Re: Quality systems (Was: Using Ada for device drivers? (Was: the Ada mandate, and why it collapsed and died))

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

Brian Gaffney wrote in message
<5e9b8c34.0305211211.75bdfc5d@posting.google.com>...
>"David Lightstone" <david._NoSpamlightstone@prodigy.net> wrote in
message news:<xzNwa.145$nE3.93@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com>...
>> <achrist@easystreet.com> wrote in message
>> > There was not only a 640 kb limit, there were some 64 kb limits
>> > on the size of memory segments in most of the PC software prior to
>> > 1987.  I don't recall ever seeing an Ada product or tool that would
>> > run on an 8086 or 8088 without special hardware added.  Were there
>> > any?
>>
>> If I am to believe the documentation for the Meridian compilier
version 4.1
>> it should work on a 8086
>> with MS-DOS version 2.1 or later
>>
>> I have never tested it in that environment, so I can not confirm the
claim
>>
>
>I just happen to have a copy of Meridian Open Ada 4.1 for _PC_ DOS
>sitting on my desk.  And yes it does just that - I've used in on a NEC
>Ultralight laptop (~8086) with 640k RAM and a 2Mb RAM 'hard disk'.
>Not that I use the compiler currently, 640k limit, 5 1/4 floppies, and
>all that.
>
>Anyone know who 'owns' this product now (if anyone)?  I had tracked it
>thru 3 or 4 company changes, but never found anything recent.


For what it's worth, the basic Janus/Ada 83 compiler works fine in a
640K MS-DOS environment. And it's still available (at least until the
manuals run out, and we have several hundred left).  We also have a
number of the DOS-Extender version of that compiler left (that allows
the compilation of larger programs targetting a 640K DOS environment).
If you're doing anything serious, you'd prefer that version.

The quality of the Meridian product was suspect. We had lots of bug
reports from people trying to port code to Janus/Ada from some other
compiler. Usually, if the compiler was Alsys or Telesoft or Verdix, the
bug was in Janus/Ada (and we fixed it promptly). But if the compiler was
Meridian, the code was always illegal Ada that somehow was accepted by
that compiler; the Janus/Ada compiler was right. I don't think there
ever was a single instance of such a report where the Meridian compiler
was correct.

In any case, Meridian was sold to Verdix, who was sold to Rational, who
was sold to IBM. I'm pretty sure no one can find that anymore. RRS is
still here; we'll still support Janus/Ada 83.

                   Randy Brukardt
                   R.R. Software, Inc.