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Subject:
From:
Richard Conn <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Richard Conn <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 1 Aug 2000 19:18:33 -0400
Content-Type:
text/plain
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text/plain (161 lines)
Rush,

These are interesting data points.  Anyone have any others?
By the way, the particular aircraft I'm concerned with is going to
stay Ada for quite some time with its mission computers.  It's
the Ground-Based Data System that is looking elsewhere.

Rick
====================================
Richard Conn, Principal Investigator
Reuse Tapestry


-----Original Message-----
From: Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Kester, Rush W.
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2000 11:37 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Taking a pulse of the Ada and Software Engineering
communitie s


Evidence that Ada is growing:

1.  The Navy program I'm working on (a multi-year, multi-contractor
    upgrade to a deployed system) is in Ada.
2.  A similar new Navy system with a 20-30 year future is being
    designed from scratch in Ada.
3.  The FAA's Air Traffic Mangagement systems being developed by
    Lockheed-Martin and Computer Sciences Corp in the Rockville/
    Gaithersburg, MD area are hiring Ada developers.
4.  There is a growing interest in Ada-Linux as evident from the
    GNATLIST, in Open Ada as evident from GNAT Chat, and Windows Ada
    as evident from ObjectAda email traffic.
5.  After a significant drop during the DoD downsizing and with
    the end of the "mandate,"  membership in DC & Balt SIGAda are
    growing.  We're seeing new faces, not just the same "old timers"
    who have been around forever.
6.  The NASA/Goddard manager who was trying to end the use of Ada
    in favor of C++ has been replaced by a friend of the Ada community.
7.  Mike Feldman's Ada project list is growing.
8.  According to insider reports ObjectAda is Aonix's most profitable
    product last year, surpassing Software Through Pictures.
9.  Some companies that jumped on the C++ & Java bandwagon are
    discovering that these languages are not the "silver bullet"
    and are looking to Ada as a more mature & reliable O-O technology.
10. I am aware of new partnerships of Ada companies in the technologies
    such as: CORBA, UML, Linux, Real-time, Safety Critical.
11. Tools like BINDCOM, C2Ada, & CBIND are making new C/C++
    libraries available immediately to Ada developers.
12. Tools like ASIS are making it easier for Ada tool vendors to
    market their products to the entire Ada community.
13. The price of Ada compilers and tools have dropped to competitive
    price-performance levels and Ada vendors can still make money.
14. Interest in Software Engineering, SEI/CMM, and ISO 9000 which the
    Ada community supports better than others are growing.
15. Attendance at the annual SIGAda conferences is growing again.
    SIGAda 2000 should be no exception.

Maybe it's just my optimistic attitude, but these seem pretty concrete.  :-)
If you decide to stay with the Ada community, maybe you should consider
transferring to Lockheed-Martin the Balt/Wash area.

Rush Kester
charter member Team-Ada
Software Systems Engineer

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Conn [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2000 4:08 AM
> To: Kester, Rush W.; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: RE: Taking a pulse of the Ada and Software Engineering
> communities
>
>
> Rush,
>
> What data/observations can you offer that the use of Ada is growing?
> From what I have seen at Lockheed, Ada's use is steady in
> some areas and
> declining in others.  I think if the right language came
> along with the
> right support, the steady-use areas may start to decline.
>
> Rick
> ====================================
> Richard Conn, Principal Investigator
> Reuse Tapestry
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kester, Rush W. [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 12:10 PM
> To: 'Richard Conn'; [log in to unmask]
> Subject: RE: Taking a pulse of the Ada and Software Engineering
> communities
>
>
> Rick,
>
> You mistake birth rate for palse rate!  I will grant you that
> the Ada birth rate is lower than that for Visual .., Java,
> or Software Engineering.  However, IMO, the Ada community (having
> survived the the downsizing DoD market and the end of the
> "mandate") is alive and growing.  Granted, its growth is slower
> that most of us would like to see.
>
> The types of books in bookstores represents areas where there
> is sufficient market to justify putting them there.  The market
> for books is mostly to people starting out in a given subject area.
> The fact that more people are interested in Software Engineering
> is a good sign for Ada's future.
>
> There are plenty of Ada books out there to support the present
> Ada community.  You just have to order them.  What the Ada community
> is losing out on is the opportunity to promote the language to new
> programmers who go to the bookstore to "learn how to develop xyz
> type application using Ada."  Where you see Ada books on the
> shelf it's generally where there is a university teaching Ada or
> using it in one or more of their classes.
>
> Rush Kester
> charter member Team Ada
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Richard Conn [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 6:46 AM
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Taking a pulse of the Ada and Software Engineering
> > communities
> >
> >
> > Hi, Everyone,
> >
> > I took a little trip this weekend to local computer stores
> > and book stores, in part to take a pulse of the presence of
> > Ada and Software Engineering materials in the public view.
> > While this is a small sample, it may be interesting to hear
> > if others have the same observations:
> >
> >   1. Ada books are gone from the shelves.  Zero.  I read into
> >      this that computer stores and book stores no longer find
> >      it profitable to carry them.
> >   2. Ada compilers and tools are also not present - with one
> >      exception.  I found copies of my Ada and Software
> >      Engineering Library CDROMs.
> >   3. The number of Software Engineering books has increased
> >      from the last time I looked - I saw 8 different titles,
> >      5 of which were published by Microsoft Press.
> >   4. Outside of the commercial sector, I found a couple of
> >      Ada books in two local university bookstores.  I also
> >      found Ada and Software Engineering Library CDROMs there.
> >
> > The pulse looks pretty weak,
> > Rick
> > ====================================
> > Richard Conn, Principal Investigator
> > Reuse Tapestry
>
>

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