Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!tnc!m0154
From: m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.programmer
Subject: Re: REVIEW:  Comeau C++ compiler
Keywords: programming, language, C++, compiler
Message-ID: <802@tnc.UUCP>
Date: 25 Apr 91 13:29:13 GMT
References: <1991Apr10.051104.25326@menudo.uh.edu> <36748@ditka.Chicago.COM> <1540@tronsbox.xei.com> <36963@ditka.Chicago.COM> <1991Apr17.174759.16250@jato.jpl.nasa.gov> <20862@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Reply-To: m0154@tnc.UUCP (GUY GARNETT)
Organization: The Next Challenge, Fairfax, Va.
Lines: 28

In article <20862@cbmvax.commodore.com> daveh@cbmvax.commodore.com (Dave Haynie) writes:
>I don't think you want to hand translate Modula2 or Ada into C, either, but it
>certainly could be done.
>-- 
>Dave Haynie Commodore-Amiga (Amiga 3000) "The Crew That Never Rests"
>   {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!daveh      PLINK: hazy     BIX: hazy
>      "That's me in the corner, that's me in the spotlight" -R.E.M.


This may be a "programmer's legend" rather than a true story, but I
heard (from a usually reliable source) that in the beginning days of
the Ada standard, there was an Air Force contract which required some
software to be written in Ada.  Unfortunately, there was no
DOD-qualified compiler for the target hardware (as a matter of fact,
there was no compiler at all).  So, two contracts were let: one to
write the software, and one to write a compiler.

Unfortunately, the usual factors slowed down the compiler development,
so no working compiler was available to compile and test the code. 
SO, the contractor in question hired a veritable army of assembly
language programmers, and set them to work "compiling" the Ada
software.

I believe that the compiler was eventually finished (and qualified),
but that first programming project was delivered with hand "compiled"
code.

Wildstar