Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!sdd.hp.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!cmcl2!acf5!sabbagh From: sabbagh@acf5.NYU.EDU (sabbagh) Newsgroups: comp.object Subject: Re: ada-c++ productivity Message-ID: <1554@acf5.NYU.EDU> Date: 21 Mar 91 18:44:18 GMT References: <1991Mar10.151220.2581@forwiss.uni-passau.de> <11966@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> <1991Mar15.224626.27077@aero.org> <12159@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> Distribution: usa Organization: New York University Lines: 36 >People always get hung up on the mandate thing, but it is instructive >to consider WHY there is a mandate in the FIRST place. The reason?: >because the DoD determined that the tower of Babel of languages they >were suffering with (which included just oodles of C and FORTRAN) was >not doing the job. Ada is precisely the best language for the job because >all others were found--through empirical testing--to be woefully inadequate. >In short, C and FORTRAN and COBOL and LISP and Smalltalk-80 and all the >others had their chance, and blew it. Bzzzt. Wrong, but thanks for playing. The original intent of Ada is to replace the "tower of Babel" of languages that was present in EMBEDDED SYSTEMS PROGRAMMING. This family includes languages like Forth, JOVIAL, and a number of others. Embedded systems are those found in missiles, submarines, airplanes, etc., where the computers are used to control sensors, actuators, etc. C, Fortran, COBOL, Lisp, Smalltalk-80 never "had their chance and blew it". In fact, DoD looked at the scientific (Fortran) and business (COBOL) worlds and asked: "why can't we standardize on embedded systems programming?". The "mandate" applies only to contractors working on software to be embedded in equipment, and I have heard that DoD has stepped back from even this position. Hadil G. Sabbagh E-mail: sabbagh@cs.nyu.edu Voice: (212) 998-3125 Snail: Courant Institute of Math. Sci. 251 Mercer St. New York,NY 10012 "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin Luther King, Jr. Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer.