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Sender:
"Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
From:
"Beard, Frank" <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 22 Jun 2000 17:40:29 -0400
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"Beard, Frank" <[log in to unmask]>
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Okay, I found the article about "Jurassic Park".

It was in Federal Computer Week (September 27, 1993)
in an article titled "Tri-Ada '93 Speakers Urge More Ada Use",
by Connie Winkler.

It's not exactly as I remembered, but close.  Some partial
quotes follow:

     But In fact, the more than 1,000 attendees here learned
     that the distance between government Ada projects, such
     as blah blah blah, and the amazing dinosaurs in "Jurassic
     Park" may be shorter than they realized.

     "The [Ada] community has been building games for the
     longest time; now think small and cheap and then you'll
     be there, " offered Way Ting, Vice President of the Visual
     Magic Division at Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, Calif.,
     which generated the 3-D computer graphics for the hit movie.

Further down in the article:

     Although Ting does not dictate to his programmers which
     language to use, Ada is the perfect fit for today's interactive
     multimedia applications, he said.

     Ting described how a Silicon Graphics Ada star programmed
     a voice recognition application in 4 1/2 days that used only
     3 percent of the CPU, while the C++ version took two months
     and consumed 17 percent of the CPU.

So,  I'm not sure if any of the original "Jurassic Park" movie was
done in Ada, or just the voice recognition software mentioned.

Frank


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Beard, Frank [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 7:42 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Ada RTOS.
>
> Does anyone else recall that the animation/graphics for the
> movie Jurassic Park was written in Ada?
>
> I seem to recall reading an article that said they originally
> wrote it in C++, but it was taking 30% of the CPU.  They
> re-wrote it in Ada and it only took 3% of the CPU.  I also
> seem to recall that it was done by a group at Silicon
> Graphics on their workstations.
>
> That was a pretty good App, but nobody seemed to
> notice it was Ada.
>
> Frank
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Chris Sparks [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Friday, June 09, 2000 11:13 AM
> > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > Subject:      Re: Ada RTOS.
> >
> > Robin Reagan wrote:
> >
> > > The "high level of support" is where the money can be made (See ACT).
> >
> > I am assuming you are referring to the fact that ACT is not cheap.  I
> see
> > this
> > as a dual edged sword.  The high cost can real turn people off.
> >
> > > The support I have been getting from WindRiver is good technically but
> > is not
> > > what I consider in a timely manner.
> >
> > Amen to that!
> >
> > > The "Killer app" part is unimportant. What is important is showing
> > > (the non-Ada community) that Ada can compete where it counts. If we
> > can't
> > > show that Ada can compete in the area that is was designed for we have
> > no
> > > hope in other areas.
> >
> > I disagree.  Ada can compete anywhere, whether it was designed for
> > embedded software or not.  I convinced a down in the trenches C/C++
> > teacher in college when I did my graphics class that Ada really can do
> > graphics!  He didn't think it was possible.  I was even going against
> the
> > odds since I didn't have much in the way of supporting graphical
> libraries
> > to reuse.
> >
> > > The problem with Linux is the GPL. I work in an area that giving away
> > the
> > > source
> > > would not be acceptable to my employer (And I agree with this). Is
> there
> > an
> > > RT/embedded BSD?
> >
> > This giving away code or not giving away code is going to be a thorn.
> > True
> > we all benefit from free software, however, some of us like to earn
> money.
> > Call me crazy, however, I would hate to see my hard efforts go to a
> pirate
> > who makes money off my labor.  There may be some pieces of software
> > that is truly deserving of being free because of its common application
> or
> > lack of marketability.  These I don't have a problem with.  The other
> > types
> > of software, well, needs to be determined if it is a give away or some
> > other
> > form of licensing.
> >
> > Chris Sparks

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