DEFRANCO@TOPS20.RADC.AF.MIL (Carl DeFranco) (12/12/89)
Over the past several days, we have been inundated with what are
fast becoming emotional tirades either for or against Ada as a
programming language. Mr. Ted Holden has proclaimed that Ada
is and always will be an abomination against nature, while
others take positions either diametrically opposed or at some
point in between. To all who have either defended or accepted
Ada, well done. Ada, like any other language has its good and
bad points, and there is evidence that supports the utility of
Ada, and its density is growing.
To Mr. Holden and others who seem to enjoy bashing Ada, at
some point in time, you must face reality: Ada is here, at no
small expense, and whether you approve of Ada intellectually
or not, it isn't going away. The Department of Defense, among
others, has grown tired of buying software over and over
again, only to find it difficult or impossible to maintain.
In sheer desperation, the DoD set out to create a software
engineering system to overcome those problems, Ada being a
significant part, but not all of the system that includes
standards for software development and for quality of same.
Whether the system works is still being tested, but the
initial returns say that, yes, the development system is
owrking, and with Ada, we are actually seeing life cycle cost
savings. I am not a programmer per se. I can write some Ada,
Fortran, Pascal, and (ugh) BASIC. I am attempting to learn C.
COBOL still lives an active life as a senior citizen in the
real world. This is reality.
So, Mr. Holden (and others wishing top attribute this note to
themselves), please go and live secure in your intellectual
arrogance that your chosen language is the one true salvation.
IF you can benefit by undoing all the evils perpetrated on the
world by Ada, how wonderful for you. In the meantime, the
rest of us will slug it out as best we can.
Carl DeFranco
RADC/COTD
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