Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!hao!ames!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpcea!hpfcdc!hpfclp!fritz
From: fritz@hpfclp.HP.COM (Gary Fritz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Re: FORTRAN,ADA
Message-ID: <6950005@hpfclp.HP.COM>
Date: 26 Jan 88 17:32:28 GMT
References: <5174X@utah-cs.UUCP>
Organization: HP SDE, Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 28

Stan Shebs writes:
> Tony Hoare's Turing lecture certainly had some critical remarks, to the
> effect that we risk missiles hitting our own cities by using Ada.
> (I don't know what he thinks about CL.)

Hoare's lecture should be required reading for all computer scientists.
The passage Stan refers to is:

  "...I appeal to you, representatives of the programming profession in
   the United States, and citizens concerned with the welfare and safety
   of your own country and of mankind:  do not allow this language [Ada]
   in its present state to be used in applications where reliability is
   crucial, i.e. nuclear power stations, cruise missiles, early warning
   systems, anti-ballistic missile defense systems.  The next rocket to
   go astray as a result of a programming language error may not be an
   exploratory space rocket on a harmless trip to Venus. [*]  It may be
   a nuclear warhead exploding over one of our own cities."

   [*] Refers to a Mariner Venus probe reportedly lost because of the lack
   of compulsory declarations in FORTRAN

Judging by his comments on ALGOL 60, ALGOL 68, PL/I and Ada, I would guess 
that Hoare is probably not an ardent fan of Common Lisp.

Hoare's lecture can be found in the September 1981 issue of BYTE, pp 414ff,
and I imagine in CACM around the same time.

Gary Fritz