an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[Nasser M. Abbasi]

A smart person has created a Fython, which is basically Fortran
but with a Python syntax!

https://github.com/nicolasessisbreton/fython

"Fython is Fortran with a Python syntax.
Fython code can be used in Python with a standard import statement.
Fython makes Fortran development experience similar to Python.
"

This is in order to make Fortran popular again. One writes Fortran,
but using Python syntax, and it generate Fortran output.

There is a lot of discussion on it at comp.lang.fortran

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.lang.fortran/fc3jF8FLsOU

This made me think, why not Aython? which is Ada using Python syntax?

May be this will make Ada programming more popular, since it
seems these days everyone is in love with Python.

Any thoughts? Will this be the magic trick to make Ada popular? Could
this work for Ada? Do you see any technical reasons why this
might not work for Ada as it does for Fortran?

--Nasser

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[Xavier Petit]

I think Ada syntax is one of its strengths.

Python syntax is case sensitive which I tend to hate these days I'm
almost happy to type in a Windows console and get case insensitive paths.

Plus the main thing that makes people love a language syntax is the
ability to write small lines of code, less characters. Today we have
retina displays and virtually unlimited storage space... I can't understand.

You can buy a recent video game 50€ and yet be in the total incapacity
of playing it (because the game crashes on a game oriented computer)...
And some people think, say (maybe they're right) that Javascript is the
future. Wonderful times.

But even if one day programmers want to write reliable and efficient
software, they wont use Ada. They will still use the same bad tools and
try to use it in the rightest way.

I think Ada needs a bigger community and more advertising with
impressive arguments and examples, showing the reasons a programmer
could try to learn the language. Knowing the hardest thing to a C++
programmer is to learn to think and code with Ada philosophy, not
writing C++ in Ada.

Maybe a tool ? So easy to use, or so powerful compared to the existing
that people will try the language.

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[Jeffrey R. Carter]

On 01/24/2016 01:10 AM, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
> 
> Any thoughts? Will this be the magic trick to make Ada popular? Could
> this work for Ada? Do you see any technical reasons why this
> might not work for Ada as it does for Fortran?

What makes you think it's working for Fortran? A "lot of discussion on"
comp.lang.fortran doesn't mean it's made Fortran more popular, just that it's
generated discussion among those already using Fortran.

But even if it works for Fortran, I doubt it would help Ada. As I've said
before, Ada is a S/W-engineering language. Since 98% of developers aren't S/W
engineers, nothing will make S/W-engineering languages popular.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"This school was here before you came,
and it'll be here before you go."
Horse Feathers
48

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[David Botton]

If you change the syntax it isn't Ada. A large part of what makes Ada, Ada _is_ the syntax. There are some syntax blunders that may have been avoided in the past but is what it is now. I for one would stop using Ada if it even smelled liked Python.

> As I've said
> before, Ada is a S/W-engineering language. Since 98% of developers aren't S/W
> engineers, nothing will make S/W-engineering languages popular.

Exactly. The point is to make Ada more popular amongst those engineers in general and in particular to open Ada's use in to new areas and avenues. The problem is that there has been a strong effort to kill its general purpose use and drive it more towards being SPARK.

David Botton

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[Alejandro R. Mosteo]

On 24/01/16 18:14, Jeffrey R. Carter wrote:
> On 01/24/2016 01:10 AM, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
>>
>> Any thoughts? Will this be the magic trick to make Ada popular? Could
>> this work for Ada? Do you see any technical reasons why this
>> might not work for Ada as it does for Fortran?
>
> What makes you think it's working for Fortran? A "lot of discussion on"
> comp.lang.fortran doesn't mean it's made Fortran more popular, just that it's
> generated discussion among those already using Fortran.
>
> But even if it works for Fortran, I doubt it would help Ada. As I've said
> before, Ada is a S/W-engineering language. Since 98% of developers aren't S/W
> engineers, nothing will make S/W-engineering languages popular.

Something I sorely miss when writing Ada is a state-of-the art IDE, 
namely, something like Android Studio. Despite the notable progress made 
by GPS, frankly, AS/Intellij/Clion are in another league in terms of 
comfort for the programmer. The latter in particular makes almost 
bearable to code in C++. Personal feelings of course ;)

It may seem a minutia, but for someone coming from another language, 
piling on top of the uneasiness of novelty a dated IDE is not going to 
help. And this is one of these things it's horribly easy to get used to. 
I've been thoroughly spoilt.

Of course this does not apply to those that don't rely on IDEs (I was 
one of them, I used to do all my coding with vim and a couple of plugins).

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[slos]

Le dimanche 24 janvier 2016 09:10:58 UTC+1, Nasser M. Abbasi a écrit :
> A smart person has created a Fython, which is basically Fortran
> but with a Python syntax!
> 
> https://github.com/nicolasessisbreton/fython
> 
> "Fython is Fortran with a Python syntax.
> Fython code can be used in Python with a standard import statement.
> Fython makes Fortran development experience similar to Python.
> "
> 
> This is in order to make Fortran popular again. One writes Fortran,
> but using Python syntax, and it generate Fortran output.
> 
> There is a lot of discussion on it at comp.lang.fortran
> 
> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/comp.lang.fortran/fc3jF8FLsOU
> 
> This made me think, why not Aython? which is Ada using Python syntax?
> 
> May be this will make Ada programming more popular, since it
> seems these days everyone is in love with Python.
> 
> Any thoughts? Will this be the magic trick to make Ada popular? Could
> this work for Ada? Do you see any technical reasons why this
> might not work for Ada as it does for Fortran?
> 
> --Nasser

I think any Ada related new project is good for Ada promotion.
So if one has time to invest in such project I won't discourage him.
GPS is improving, I like the GPL 2015 version.
Debian's one is far older and I can't blame anyone for that.
It can be used with some parts not working and some bugs here and there.
I wish I could help but I don't even know why it is that late behind the GPL edition. It seems not much people are using it, at least the Debian version.

Best Regards,
Stéphane
http://slo-ist.fr/ada4autom

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[Georg Bauhaus]

On 24.01.16 09:10, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
>
> Any thoughts?

The game of languages, again?

Witness the new languages of cyclic economy, Version having become key,

for L in {C#, VB, Swift, Go} loop in parallel
   Designer := Find (Level => Proven);
   Invest (L, Designer);
   while its_working (Version (L), Sales) loop
     Version (L) := Talk (Sales, Customers);
   end loop;
end loop;

Is Python even as popular as these? Any longer? Or are projects already
preferring Go, or stay with PHP where Python would be an alternative?

Arent't Fortran's array syntax and operators superior to Python's so
that Fython's would have to be different, Fython and Python becoming
incompatible? That'd be a lever for Version based Sales, though.

-- 
"HOTDOGS ARE NOT BOOKMARKS"
Springfield Elementary teaching staff

Re: an idea to make Ada popular: Aython?

[Jerry]

On Sunday, January 24, 2016 at 11:51:40 AM UTC-7, Alejandro R. Mosteo wrote:
> Something I sorely miss when writing Ada is a state-of-the art IDE,

There used to be a very nice Ada plug-in for Apple's Xcode but it was not maintained as Apple moved the infrastructure around. However, the Free Pascal folks seem to have kept alive what I understand is a very capable Xcode plug-in for FPC.

Jerry