Jim, Your point about availability of personnel is noted. I agree with you that this can be used as a reason not to use Ada. Since I am in the business of training people to be able to do Ada, I am not all that sympathetic toward those who invoke this excuse. In my experience, if a programmer already knows C++, the transition to Ada is not very difficult. Those of us, including you, who have been programming for a long time learn that the programming languages keep changing but we continue to acquire the skills we need as we go. The fact that the personnel do not know Ada should not be an obstacle. However, I realize it is often used as an excuse to select some other language. Richard [log in to unmask] AdaWorks Software Engineering Suite 30 2555 Park Boulevard Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 328-1815 FAX 328-1112