From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,XPRIO autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,df1a7f1c3c3bc77e,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit Path: g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!newshub.stanford.edu!headwall.stanford.edu!newshub.sdsu.edu!newscon04.news.prodigy.net!prodigy.net!newsdst01.news.prodigy.net!prodigy.com!postmaster.news.prodigy.com!newssvr19.news.prodigy.net.POSTED!4988f22a!not-for-mail From: Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: An Ada Advice Inquiry X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2180 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 X-RFC2646: Format=Flowed; Original Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 70.134.100.216 X-Complaints-To: abuse@prodigy.net X-Trace: newssvr19.news.prodigy.net 1178244060 ST000 70.134.100.216 (Thu, 03 May 2007 22:01:00 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 03 May 2007 22:01:00 EDT Organization: AT&T http://yahoo.sbc.com X-UserInfo1: FKPO@MC@@S@QBTLYYZH@^SXBUSXB@DTMNHWB_EYLJZ]BGIELCNSKQFCY@TXDX_WHSVB]ZEJLSNY\^J[CUVSA_QLFC^RQHUPH[P[NRWCCMLSNPOD_ESALHUK@TDFUZHBLJ\XGKL^NXA\EVHSP[D_C^B_^JCX^W]CHBAX]POG@SSAZQ\LE[DCNMUPG_VSC@VJM Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 19:01:08 -0800 Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:15488 Date: 2007-05-03T19:01:08-08:00 List-Id: I recently received an inquiry from a colleague I have not seen in many years. He is currently in a position where he is asked to advise a client about whether to choose Ada or C++ for a project. He is not a language junkie because his expertise is a very different level of software engineering, but he is a highly intelligent and capable consulting engineer. Perhaps that's why he inquired of me. :-) 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. So. What do I tell him? At one time, I could contact the AJPO and ask this question. Although they were never very good at providing complete information, they did have some knowledge of where Ada was being used for new projects. Now, there is no place to look for that information. It presents a little dilemma. If no one else is using Ada for new projects, he can wonder why he should be the alone in his decision. If every other consultant, manager, or program director asks the same question, and gets no information about others choosing Ada, no one will want to make that choice. Is anyone choosing Ada for new projects? What kind of projects? Can we collect information about them and create a catalog of them in the adaic.com website? If not, why not? The compiler publishers know who is buying their compilers, but they don't want to compromise customer confidentiality. The programmers are afraid of losing their jobs if they tell anyone what they are doing. Everyone who can provide the information is afraid to do so. When I was actively consulting on Ada, I was often told, by my client, not to tell anyone they were using Ada. So. We keep the secret. The secret keeps Ada a secret. And Ada begins to wane because no one wants to reveal their decision to use it. Is this a recipe for killing any incentive for choosing the language for future projects? What do I tell my old friend? Should he take the risk of using Ada even without the knowledge that anyone else is using it for real projects? Hmmmmm. Is anyone out there really choosing it for new software projects? Richard Riehle