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From: Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: If not Ada, what else...
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 2015 09:55:07 +0100
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Date: 2015-07-29T09:55:07+01:00
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Jacob Sparre Andersen <sparre@nbi.dk> writes:

> At the moment I'm working on a prototype where the production version
> most likely will be written in assembly or some highly processor
> specific language by the customer.  But Ada is very practical for
> writing algorithms in a readable form.

I designed a Mascot[1] kernel for a dual-processor F2420 machine[2] in
Ada in about 1985. There was a small part (context switching) where "at
this point, a miracle occurs". The implementation (in assembler) had one
error on delivery and was in service (I believe) up to 2011.

This led to unfounded rumours that we had an Ada compiler for the
machine!

Interestingly, Ravenscar has some commonality with Mascot's approach.

[1] http://async.org.uk/Hugo.Simpson/MASCOT-3.1-Manual-June-1987.pdf
[2] http://www.cbronline.com/news/ferranti_offers_f2420_at_five_times_power_of_fm1600e