Re: An Ada Advice Inquiry

[Stephen Leake <stephen_leake@stephe-leake.org>]

<adaworks@sbcglobal.net> writes:

> One of the concerns is whether anyone else is choosing to
> use Ada for new projects.   He does not want to be the
> only one to make such a choice.  It is well-known that
> there are a lot of Ada software products being maintained,
> but is anyone choosing it for new projects?   Good question,
> I answer.

Why is this a concern?

I can understand needing to be able to rely on Ada compilers/tools
being available in the future, and on being able to find people
trained in Ada.

It might be that those correlate with new projects.

But as you point out, it is difficult to tell if there are new
projects being started in Ada. Is it easier to tell if there are new
projects being started in C++?

I don't think the information in either case is exhaustive or
reliable.

Ada is clearly a better language; I routinely get a factor of 2-4 in
productivity improvement in Ada vs C++. So for me, the choice of C++
vs Ada should only be made on the quality of support from the compiler
company, and the quality of available third-party packages that will
be useful in your particular projects.

User feedback on compiler companies would be a good measure. Any
compiler company should be willing to provide that.

Getting an evaluation copy of a compiler, and using the associated
customer support for a trial project, is the best way to evaluate a
company.

Surveying available third party packages is harder. I have not even
tried in my field; hard real-time satellite simulation.

-- 
-- Stephe