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Subject:
From:
Jean-Pierre Rosen <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Jean-Pierre Rosen <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 14 Apr 2000 08:29:26 +0200
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> That is the crux of the matter! You don't read about Ada in the mainstream
> computing press, mainly because it is not used for mass-market
applications.
> Generally the only time you do hear of it is when e.g. Ariane blows up and
> someone blames the Ada code! No one seems to remember the number of
satellites,
> aircraft, trains and so on that rely on Ada, with the lives of thousands
of
> people every day being taken care of by it! No, all you hear about is
Java, C++
> and VB - the things that are used to construct the (mainly unreliable)
> applications that people see on their desktop.
>
But of course!
You only read in the press about software that fails, never about software
that works!
That's why you hear so little about Ada...
Lucky we had Ariane 5 ;-)

While we're at it, little story about software-that-works:
The whole scheduling system of trains in the channel tunnel is done in Ada.
Shortly after a shuttle burned into the tunnel, I asked what happened at
software level to deal with having only one tunnel. The answer was:
"Nothing. We declared the section invalidated, and the software went on
scheduling trains in only one tunnel".
The presse never echoed this one.
Of course, it's much more a matter of design than language, but how comes
that good designs are more frequent in Ada programs ? Or is it that good
designers are more likely to choose Ada ?
---------------------------------------------------------
           J-P. Rosen ([log in to unmask])
Visit Adalog's web site at http://pro.wanadoo.fr/adalog

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