Re: Ada, open source software and Linux

[Matthew Heaney <matthewjheaney@earthlink.net>]

fmdf@tiscali.it writes:

> Some subjects that come to my mind are: what is Ada, some History, who
> use it, why Ada (readability, expressiveness, maintainability,
> efficiency, reliability, times and costs, portability, etc.), a few
> notes about Ada and C/C++ safety and reliability, and eventually a
> mini-tour of the main features and strenghts, Linux support of Ada
> (GCC/GNAT, GDB, GPS, GtkAda, etc.).

Ada 2005 (which will be finalized sometime this summer) will include a
container library not unlike the C++ STL.  The library includes vectors,
lists, sets, and maps.  The sets and maps have both ordered and hashed
versions.

The reference implementation of the container library is all
open-source (using the GNAT Modified GPL license):

<http://charles.tigris.org/source/browse/charles/src/ai302/>


> I am particularly afraid of many C/C++ programmers won't bother even
> to hear about Ada or any other language.

Any C++ programmer with even modest familiarity with the STL will be
instantly at home with Ada's new container library.