On Thu, 17 Dec 1998, W. Wesley Groleau x4923 wrote:

> I can't vouch for the accuracy of the information, but Capers Jones and
> Software Productivity Research believe that Eiffel and perl will have
> higher productivity than Ada.
>
> They put Ada at 10-20 function points per staff-month
> and perl or Eiffel at 16-23.

  This reminds me of arguments many years ago about which of the
  Martial Arts forms was most effective.  Some prefer Judo, others
  say Jiu Jitsu, others swear by the striking forms such as Karate,
  Tae Kwon Do. There is a growing number of enthusiasts studying
  Aikido.  And the advocates of the Chinese forms are confident of
  their superiority.

  There are many excellent things one can say about Eiffel. I am one
  of those who knows both Bertrand and his language design. Perl is
  a language in which one can be enormously productive, but no sane
  person would use it for reliability-sensitive software products.

  The strength of Ada is manifold.  If one insists on a single point
  of comparison, it will be easy to find weaknesses.  That is true of
  Eiffel versus Ada, Karate versus Judo, and Range Rovers versus
  Jaguars.

  Richard Riehle
  http://www.adaworks.com