RHARWOOD@EAST.Pima.edu (Ray Harwood) (01/23/91)
Several inquiries of late have asked what I consider more "operational" questions of Ada as opposed to actual "language capability" questions. Two particularly come to mind: (1) Is there a random number generator? and (2) How do I write to specific screen locations (presuming, I suppose, VT100-style cursor commands). I'd like to suggest to all who may not have done so to review Michael Feldman's implementation of the Dining Philospoher's Problem (I think it was sent in INFO-ADA V90 # 240, but I'd have to recheck the actual number). I used this program in my Ada class, and frankly, it DOES have screen control and random number generation... as well as a simple and easy-to-follow (IMHO) implementation of something "relatively real". Ray Harwood
g_harrison@vger.nsu.edu ((George C. Harrison) Norfolk State University) (01/25/91)
In article <96A6DC7B9022350B@Arizona.edu>, RHARWOOD@EAST.Pima.edu (Ray Harwood) writes: > I'd like to suggest to all who may not have done so to review Michael > Feldman's implementation of the Dining Philospoher's Problem (I think > it was sent in INFO-ADA V90 # 240, but I'd have to recheck the actual > number). I used this program in my Ada class, and frankly, it DOES > have screen control and random number generation... as well as a simple > and easy-to-follow (IMHO) implementation of something "relatively real". > > Ray Harwood I can "ditto" that, Ray. I have used a Dining Philosphers' Problem example that was very similar, but I am drawn to this one for it's examples in simplicity, modularily, and portability. This one also will be "torn apart" in my Ada class this semster. George -- George C. Harrison -------------- || -- My opinions and observations -- ---|| Professor of Computer Science || -- Only. ------------------------- ---|| Norfolk State University, ---- || ----------- Pray for Peace ------- ---|| 2401 Corprew Avenue, Norfolk, Virginia 23504 ----------------------- ---|| INTERNET: g_harrison@vger.nsu.edu ---------------------------------
mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) (01/25/91)
In article <525.279f1e40@vger.nsu.edu> g_harrison@vger.nsu.edu ((George C. Harrison) Norfolk State University) writes: >In article <96A6DC7B9022350B@Arizona.edu>, RHARWOOD@EAST.Pima.edu (Ray Harwood) writes: >> I'd like to suggest to all who may not have done so to review Michael >> Feldman's implementation of the Dining Philospoher's Problem (I think >> it was sent in INFO-ADA V90 # 240, but I'd have to recheck the actual >> number). I used this program in my Ada class, and frankly, it DOES >> have screen control and random number generation... as well as a simple >> and easy-to-follow (IMHO) implementation of something "relatively real". >> >> Ray Harwood > > >I can "ditto" that, Ray. I have used a Dining Philosphers' Problem example >that was very similar, but I am drawn to this one for it's examples in >simplicity, modularily, and portability. This one also will be "torn apart" in >my Ada class this semster. > >George George and Ray, I really appreciate the good reviews of this example. If anyone didn't catch it the first time, e-mail me and I'll send a shell archive of it. I said I would report back on the portability results. I have had a number of reports, none of which showed any problems. I think the program represents solid portable Ada. Here is a summary of the results. I am basically just reporting vendors' names instead of "platforms," because most of a vendors' engineering decisions are made in the front end and middle passes of an Ada system, and I think it's a safe bet that if the program, is correct for vendor X, platform A, it'll be so for vendor X, platform B. (If there are exceptions here, let me know!). The vendor families for which Portable Diners has been tested successfully are: Alsys DEC Intermetrics Irvine Meridian RR Tartan TeleSoft Verdix These are the major suppliers of Ada. This program has been run on most major platforms from Macs and PCs to Crays and IBM mainframes, with all the usual Vax, Sun, and HP gear in between. If anyone can contribute more tests, I'd love to have your results. For example: DDC-I? NYU Ada/Ed? Rational? York? Good luck. Mike Feldman