> Nice to contact you.
> I have a question on the Ada95 as follows:
> Can ISO assure the Ada95 can be used in mission-critical system for
> example,
> Nuclear, Millitary, etc?

ISO is not in the business of assuring something like that.  However, the
vendors of Ada compilers do permit the use of their Ada 95 implementations
in such environments (unlike Java, for example, where such usage
is explicitly disallowed by the Sun Java license).

> What test suits did ISO develope to assure the reliability of the Ada95?

There are approximately 4000 Ada validation tests.  These were developed
under contract to the US Department of Defense, but are publically available,
and form the starting point for an ISO WG9-authorized conformance
assessment capability for Ada 95.  However, these tests do not assure the
reliability of Ada 95.  They contribute to the indication that a particular
implementation of Ada 95 conforms to the Ada 95 standard.

> Did you define critical characteristics of the Ada95 to establish its
> acceptance criteria?

Ada 95 was clearly designed to satisfy the needs of mission-critical systems.

However, any "assurance" that a particular system built using Ada 95
satisfies the needs of a particular mission must be performed in
accordance with the rules for that particular industry.

For example, Ada has been used in systems which have been certified
for use in commercial aircraft according to the DO-178 rules defined by
the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), such as the Boeing 777.  Ada
has also been used in certified control systems for commercial
transportation systems, such as the Paris Metro, the French TGV, and the
English Channel tunnel (Chunnel).

> It will be very appreciated if you respond me.
>
> Best regards,
> Yong

-Tucker Taft  [log in to unmask]
Intermetrics, Inc.
An AverStar Company
Burlington, MA  01803-3303
USA