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"Team Ada: Ada Advocacy Issues (83 & 95)" <[log in to unmask]>
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Ben Brosgol <[log in to unmask]>, Tucker Taft <[log in to unmask]>, "Carl S. Brandon" <[log in to unmask]>, "W. Wesley Groleau x4923" <[log in to unmask]>, Nick Roberts <[log in to unmask]>, John Apa <[log in to unmask]>, Dave Beal <[log in to unmask]>, Jim Norton <[log in to unmask]>, Jim Norton <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 28 Jan 2000 09:46:05 -0500
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"Ann S. Brandon" <[log in to unmask]>
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"Ann S. Brandon" <[log in to unmask]>
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ann Brandon
(802) 728-9947
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Ada Claims Unique Advantage:
First International Standard for Testing Compilers

BURLINGTON, Mass.--The Ada Resource Association (ARA) announced today
that Ada is the first programming language to standardize a process for
testing compilers' implementation.  The standard, ISO/IEC-18009;1999,
prescribes a path of testing that a compiler must pass in order to be
"certified as  conforming to standard Ada."

Through a process of testing and validating compilers' implementations,
the Ada community has overseen the language's integrity since its
inception.  The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) now
recognizes that process.

Tucker Taft, president of the ARA, said that "Ada is leading the way for
other languages to protect their code from obsolescence," with the
standardized process of testing compilers.  "To distinguish compilers as
implementing a language's standard vs. a dialect is crucial to the
maintenance and portability of code, not to mention software safety."

The Ada standard is, in fact, an international standard itself, and has
been since 1983.  The newest Ada language standard is Ada95.

The Ada Compiler Assessment Authority (ACAA) manages the testing and
certification process.  Randy Brukardt is the ACAA's manager and
Technical Agent.

Veteran users of the Ada language will not notice a dramatic change
between the unofficial and official paths of testing.  The ARA has
worked with other community organizations to streamline the bureaucracy,
while becoming an ISO standard demanded a change in vocabulary.  What
the community has always called the "validation" of Ada compilers is now
the "conformity assessment."  In official ISO terminology, compilers are
considered to be "assessed as conforming to the Ada standard."

The ARA is an organization of Ada tools and software  development
vendors, including Ada Core Technologies, Aonix, Averstar, DDC-I, Green
Hills Software, OC Systems, and Rational Software (Nasdaq: RATL).
Together the companies represent over ninety percent of the Ada tools
market.

The ARA's mission is to encourage managers to "Choose Ada, The Most
Trusted Name in Software(TM)."  According to Taft, "The cornerstone to
that trust is the ARA's commitment to uphold the Ada standard.  The new
ISO standard for testing Ada compilers makes our commitment truly
concrete."

 * * *

In the January/February 2000 IEEE Journal, an article appeared, "An ISO
Standard Guards the Ada Hen House," which describes the testing process
and its history. For more details on the conformance testing suite and
components,  please see it reprinted on the Ada Information
Clearinghous's Web site at:

http://adaic.org/docs/flyers/acaa.html

For a full list of ARA certified compilers, please see

http://www.adaic.com/compilers/ada95.html

For more information on the Ada programming language, development
tools, and community, please see:

http://www.adaic.com/

For more information on the ARA and its members, please visit the ARA
Web site at

http://www.adaresource.com/

Still have questions? Please email them to [log in to unmask] or to
Ann Brandon at [log in to unmask] or to Randy Brukardt at
[log in to unmask]

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