[comp.lang.ada] Looking for MS-DOS ADA Compiler!!

slq@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Joey Schoeph) (03/24/90)

I'm in the process of learning ADA, and I have an IBM XT!  I'm looking for
a compiler for ADA on my PC.  If anyone could help me out, I would really
appreciate it!!  Please e-mail or post!

		     slq@mentor.cc.purdue.edu

h235_022@ccvax.ucd.ie (Gordon T Gopher at CCVAX) (03/27/90)

In article <8766@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, slq@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Joey Schoeph)
 writes:
> I'm in the process of learning ADA, and I have an IBM XT!  I'm looking for
> a compiler for ADA on my PC.  If anyone could help me out, I would really
> appreciate it!!  Please e-mail or post!
> 
> 		     slq@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
-- 

I learnt some ADA some time ago myself, and I was very impressed, but I got the
impression that a compiler for such a language would be huge, and inquiries
seemed to indicate the same...  If however, anyone does have any info - even if
the compiler can only run on a 386 with lots of ram, I'd love to hear about
it...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Neil Conway H235_022@ccvax.ucd.ie | Disclaimer ? HA! I'll die of surprise if 
            H235_022@ccvax.bitnet | this even makes it onto the net... :-)
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jm21@prism.gatech.EDU (Jim Marks) (03/30/90)

In article <903.260f5b00@ccvax.ucd.ie> h235_022@ccvax.ucd.ie (Gordon T Gopher at CCVAX) writes:
>In article <8766@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>, slq@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Joey Schoeph)
> writes:
>> I'm in the process of learning ADA, and I have an IBM XT!  I'm looking for
>> a compiler for ADA on my PC.  If anyone could help me out, I would really
>> appreciate it!!  Please e-mail or post!
>> 
...
>...If however, anyone does have any info - even if
>the compiler can only run on a 386 with lots of ram, I'd love to hear about
>it...
>

We have two we are using here.  One, from Alsys requires an AT (or 386) and
about 3-4MB of expanded (I think) memory.  Therefore, it wouldn't be for you.
The other one, which we've gotten a license to use in an Ada class we're
taking, is from Meridian Software.  It's called AdaVantage, and will run on
an XT (with or without a math coprocessor).  Its a validated (legal) Ada 
compiler with an available support environment.  I haven't had a chance 
to use it much (I just got it a few days ago), so I can't comment much on 
its speed or the quality of the code it produces.  You can get it with a 
utility library, a DOS environment library and a development environment.  
I didn't handle the purchase of our license, so I don't know how much it 
costs (but based on the cost of our multi-user license, it must be well 
over $100).  I think they may also have a less capable one (possibly
a subset) for less, though.  You can contact them at:

Meridian Software Systems, Inc.
10 Pasteur Street
Irvine, CA 92718

Sorry, I don't have a phone number.  However, they do have an E-mail address
for support; they might be able to help you.  Its

support@Meridian.COM

Hope this helps.

Jim Marks   (404)894-7255            Systems Engineering Laboratory       
Compuserve: 72310,2410               Georgia Tech Research Institute      
uucp:	    ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!jm21 
Internet:   jm21@prism.gatech.edu -or- jmarks@gtri01.gatech.edu    
-- 
Jim Marks   (404)894-7255            Systems Engineering Laboratory       
Compuserve: 72310,2410               Georgia Tech Research Institute      
uucp:	    ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!jm21 
Internet:   jm21@prism.gatech.edu -or- jmarks@gtri01.gatech.edu    

mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Mike Feldman) (03/30/90)

Meridian Software Systems (1-800-221-2522) has a version of their system
called AdaStudent. It is full Ada except for Chapter 13. Tasking, generics,
whatever, are supported as fully as their commercial product. It costs
$50.00 (that's right, fifty dollars). They will take VISA and ship by UPS;
usually takes a week or two to get it. They'll overnight it if you pay.

It's a "vanilla" system: compiler, Ada-level linker, decent debugger. No
editor, no libraries. Many of my students have used it with success; I
use it and its production-quality cousin all the time. I'm satisfied
that it's a quite respectable piece of software. Because of the missing
Chapter 13 support it can't be validated, but otherwise it is validatable -
it's the same product as the big one, which has a current validation.

The only machine requirements are 640k and a hard disk. Floating-point
is software-emulated (another difference from the big one, which can use
a coprocessor). An XT with 640k and a hard disk will be slow but serviceable.
In my opinion, it's $50. well spent to learn Ada and work with it on class
projects, etc.

If you want to spend more ($249., I think) try IntegrAda from AETech (I
don't have their number but they are in the San Diego area). This is a
Turbo-Pascal-like development environment (editor, single-keystroke commands,
etc.) wrapped around a Janus-Ada compiler. Comes with some libraries:
math, graphics, etc. Personally I like the Meridian _compiler_ better
(has a more solid "feel" to it) but IntegrAda is quite serviceable and
has the better library support (in the cheap version). Same machine
requirements as Ada Student. I am writing a book and using IntegrAda to
develop all the code for it. Development environment is great. Ignore
the pop-up menus and use the function keys. Neat and pretty fast on my
8 MHz AT. It's validated. I like Meridian's tasking support better.

In both cases, you _will_ need to give the systems as much memory as you
can, which means no TSR programs, Sidekick, terminal emulators, network
software, etc. But it's not true that you need megabytes to compile
respectable Ada code: a "standard" DOS machine is just fine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prof. Michael Feldman
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
The George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052
+1-202-994-5253
mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu
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