mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) (06/24/91)
Here is the full text of the Access Mac article that appeared in AdaStrategies, June 1991. Quoted verbatim, with permission. (The "I" in the article is Ralph Crafts, AdaStrategies editor). (begin quote) Ada Used for Consumer PC Product As the Ada market continues to expand, I keep hearing discussions about how the language needs to find users in the commercial marketplace if it is going to succeed in the long run. One area that keeps coming up is the consumer market for applications and tools; i.e., if Ada can be used to develop computer and software tools for consumers (PC and Macintosh users), then its usage will expand more quickly in the commercial sector. One such product is on the market, developed and distributed by Avantek Computer Services Ltd., in Scotland. This article is based on materials provided by Avantek, and on a live telephone interview with the company's Managing Director, Mr. Keith Brown. Access Mac Avantek's product, Access Mac, enables IBM PC users to read, write, and format Macintosh floppy disks on their PCs, without buying extra hardware. The product enables the exchange of data between Mac and PC users, using only the standard hardware configuration of each system. Access Mac requires a 3.5" floppy disk drive, at least 500K of memory, and MS-DOS 3.3 or higher. Access Mac is compatible with the new Mac Classic line of products, and with any Mac equipped with the Mac SuperDrive. The software features an intelligent translation of file names, to ensure minimal confusion and ease of use. According to Avantek, Access Mac is the first software-only utility designed to provide PC compatibility with Macintosh floppy disks; all other products need to have additional hardware. The Avantek product also allows PC users to initialize Mac disks in proper Mac format, which precludes the need for a previously formatted Mac disk. The Mac user does not have to take any special steps in preparing a disk for use on a PC. Access Mac requires about 3 minutes to install, and includes a users manual with sections for both experienced and novice PC users. Access Mac already has quite a user community in Europe, as indicated by the following list: % Newspapers and periodical publishers % Small business and office system specialists % Council and municipal computer authorities % Health service departments % Education authorities (schools and colleges) % Software consultants % Printers, typesetters, and lithographers % Architects, design consultancies, and graphic designers Avantek and Ada Avantek was founded in 1989 in Scotland, "to promote the use of Ada as a commercially viable language for PC software development," according to the company's literature. In my interview with Mr. Brown, I learned that Avantek's Directors have a background in the defence community, and knew about Ada. In answer to the question, "Why did Avantek use Ada for this product, when most commercial enterprises would probably have chosen C?" Brown cited several reasons: We had done studies on the metrics of productivity with Ada, and felt that it offered advantages over C. Since we are a small company, we had to produce a high-quality product--we couldn't afford a large maintenance load in the field. In point of fact, there are very few bugs in the delivered product--it has been on sale since January 1991, and out of hundreds sold, we have had only 3 bugs reported. The bugs were easily diagnosed with use of the exception handling capability offered by Ada--a capability not available in C. "Ada's strong typing and compile checking also helped in our quality commitment. The volume structure of a Macintosh is very complex and involved, and the pointer structure of C was not very attractive to us. We used RR Software's Ada compiler, and found it to be of excellent quality for our development." Avantek used a "first-time programmer" to write the software for Access Mac. It took about one man-year to develop approximately 16,000 lines of Ada code. According to Brown, the programmer had no prior Ada experience, but was experienced in writing C. After 3 months of training, the programmer was comfortable with Ada, and had no difficulty in finishing the Access Mac product. When I asked about any negative aspects to using Ada, Brown noted that the code size was relatively large, and the performance "could be faster." The company is currently working on a Windows 3.0 version of their product, which is scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of 1991. Access Mac retails for #98-40 in Europe, with dealer price running #65-00. Point of Contact For more information on Access Mac, or to place an order, contact: Avantek Computer Services Ltd. Unit 2 Midfield House Polton Road, Lasswade Midlothian Scotland EH18 1ED Telephone: 031-660-5213 FAX: 031-660-4718 (End quote) Mike