From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!reader02.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Simon Clubley Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Heartbleed Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 18:29:21 +0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Message-ID: References: <1ljwj8f.1wqbhvuabsdw1N%csampson@inetworld.net> <51c7d6d4-e3be-44d5-a4ce-f7e875345588@googlegroups.com> <%J32v.70539$kp1.45343@fx14.iad> <87tx9so50m.fsf@adaheads.sparre-andersen.dk> <87ha5q1b4l.fsf@kuiper.lan.informatimago.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 18:29:21 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: mx05.eternal-september.org; posting-host="e458ff8b81bc0c159989eb0e36c6e372"; logging-data="20759"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18gVuZ4rA+89xhEWwciS5XwNEJJtfg5cjw=" User-Agent: slrn/0.9.8.1 (VMS/Multinet) Cancel-Lock: sha1:tpWloXK8uBZBhmK14sVuuQx2tKE= Xref: news.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:19440 Date: 2014-04-19T18:29:21+00:00 List-Id: On 2014-04-18, Pascal J. Bourguignon wrote: > "Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57)" writes: > >> That's because an Ada compiler is far more complex to design. This may >> be another rational for a standard Ada minimal *frozen* *subset* (not >> a new language) without every thing which is finally a derived form of >> the most fundamental constructs with additional limitations. > > > This rational could have been valid 20 years or 30 years ago, when > proprietary software was more common, and free software was less > numerous and of more difficult access. Also, at a time, when a full Ada > compiler would take 90% of the usual computer RAM, and 12 floppies. At > the same time, the first C compiler for Macintosh took only 2 floppies. > And 30 years ago there were tens of different processors, and hundreds > of different OSes, which made it very difficult to provide a compiler > running everywhere. > > > > BUT not anymore. > > Nowadays, you type apt-get install gcc or apt-get install gnat and the > compiler is fetched from the Internet, and it doesn't make a difference > if it takes 8 MB or 80 MB. > [I can't tell if you are trolling or if you actually mean this. :-)] Of course, it makes a difference. Designing a compiler for a language the size of Ada 2012 is a huge undertaking. Designing a compiler for a language the size of a Oberon variant is, by contrast, a much simpler task. That 80MB download doesn't come out of thin air. Someone has to sit down and write the source code which compiles to that 80MB download. > Nowadays, there are only two processors: Intel on desktop and ARM on > mobile, and there remains only ONE system: Unix (Linux on desktop Linux > and Android, Darwin (BSD) on desktop MacOSX and iOS). > Sorry, but that is completely wrong. What about MVS (or whatever it's called these days) ? What about the various versions of Windows (both client and server) ? What about processors like PowerPC and the various MIPS cores ? What about differences caused by the different userland libraries ? What about target support for the vast range of embedded systems (including bare metal and the various RTOS options) as well as the various embedded processors ? > And user machines have gigabytes of RAM and terabytes of hard disk, more > than enough for any compiler and run-time. > > > > Therefore not only is access to free(dom) software easier, but you > usually don't even have to port it to your system, since it already > targets it. > You should compare the Ada supported host and target platforms with the C supported host and target platforms. Simon. -- Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP Microsoft: Bringing you 1980s technology to a 21st century world