karl@grebyn.com (Karl Nyberg) (01/19/89)
Attached is the first Ada 9X Project Report, including status, etc.
-- Karl --
ADA 9X PROJECT
REPORT TO THE PUBLIC
Submitted by
Chris Anderson
Ada 9X Project Manager
January 1989
This is the first of many periodic reports to the Ada community concerning
the Ada 9X Project. A lot of activity has occurred since the Ada Joint
Program Office announced the initiation of the Ada 9X Project in October
1988.
As the Ada 9X Project Manager, I intend to conduct the Ada 9X process in a
very open manner. These status reports represent one part of my plan for
accomplishing this goal.
PROJECT PLAN
Since October I have been preparing the Ada 9X Project Plan. I will
distribute copies at the SIGAda/AdaJUG Meeting in February. Copies will
also be available shortly via the Defense Technical Information Center.
The overall goal of the Ada 9X Project is to revise ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A to
reflect current essential requirements with minimum negative impact and
maximum positive impact to the Ada community. The Ada 9X process is a
revision and not a redesign of the language and should be viewed as a
natural part of the language maturation process.
The Project Plan delineates the objectives and approach for the Ada 9X
Project. The objectives include revising ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A, obtaining
approval by the American National Standards Institute and adoption by the
Department of Defense and the International Standards Organization, updating
the Ada Compiler Validation Capability Test Suite, recommending Transition
Policy, developing an education/ training program, and developing a long
term language maintenance plan.
These objectives will be accomplished in three interrelated phases:
revision, standardization and transition beginning in October 1988 and
ending in April 1993.
ADA 9X BULLETIN BOARD
An Ada 9X Bulletin Board is being established. It should be operational by
mid-February -- more information on that later. In the meantime, Ada 9X
Project information will be available on the Ada Information Clearinghouse
(Ada IC) Bulletin Board at (202) 694-0215 or (301) 459-3865, the Defense
Data Network (DDN) AJPO host (ajpo.sei.cmu.edu) under the directory
/usr0/users/ftp/public/ada9x, and via FTP from other DDN hosts.
REVISION REQUEST COLLECTION
The collection of revision requests from the public is underway. It will
continue until October 1989. Request forms are available on the Ada IC
Bulletin Board or DDN in file FORM9X.HLP, or by calling IITRI: Gil Austin at
(703) 685-1477, or Hank Greene at (301) 731-8894. All requests will be
acknowledged and assigned an accesssion number for tracking purposes.
REQUIREMENTS TEAM
The Ada 9X Project Office is establishing a Requirements Team to develop the
requirements for the revision of the language standard. Requirements will
be based on revision requests submitted by the public and the approved Ada
language commentaries. Team members will be required to work full time on
the project for about nine months in Washington, D.C. Arrangements with the
member's organization are negotiable. Candidate team member profiles and
application information are available on the Ada IC Bulletin Board or DDN in
file REQ9X.HLP, or from IITRI (703) 685-1477. The submission deadline is 15
March 1989.
DISTINGUISHED REVIEWERS
The Ada 9X Project Office is also establishing a Distinguished Reviewers
Group. This group will review and comment on all Ada 9X documents over a
three year period (not to exceed 2 man months/year). Candidate profiles and
application information are available on the Ada IC Bulletin Board or DDN in
file REVIEW9X.HLP, or from IITRI (703) 685-1477. The submission deadline is
15 March 1989.
GOVERNMENT ADVISORY GROUP
The Ada 9X Project Office has established a Government Advisory Group
composed of representatives from various government organizations. The
Government Advisory Group is responsible for insuring technical
issues/concerns of their respective organizations are reported; providing
policy/procedures advice regarding the Ada 9X process; and reporting Ada 9X
status to their respective organizations. The first Government Advisory
Group meeting is scheduled for 23 February in Destin, Florida.
REQUIREMENTS WORKSHOP
The Ada 9X Project Office is sponsoring an Ada 9X Requirements Workshop
22-26 May 1989 in Destin, Florida. The objective of the workshop is to
provide a forum for identifying and articulating revision requirements
issues in several key areas. Participants will be selected based on
position statements. The Call for Position Statements is on the Ada IC
Bulletin Board or DDN in file WRKSHP9X.HLP, or available from IITRI (703)
685-1477.
REQUIREMENTS PUBLIC FORUM
The Ada 9X Project Office is sponsoring an Ada 9X Requirements Public Forum
on 30 June 1989 in the Washington D.C. area. The results of the
Requirements Workshop as well as a Project status update will be presented.
Admission is free and open to the public. More information will be
available shortly.
UPCOMING CONTRACTS
There will be two Ada 9X competitive procurements awarded in FY90:
Mapping/Revision and Implementation/Demonstration. The Mapping/Revision
contract is focused on mapping Ada 9X requirements into recommended
language- specific solutions, and then revising the Ada standard based on
these solutions. One award is planned.
The Implementation/Demonstration contract is aimed at implementing the Ada
9X revisions in a production quality validated Ada compiler in order to
demonstrate and evaluate the utility and impact of the revisions. Multiple
awards are planned. Communication and feedback between these two efforts is
required.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ...
I will attempt to keep the Ada 9X Bulletin Board up to date. However, if
you require additional information about any Ada 9X Project topic please
feel free to contact me directly at (904) 882-2961 or
ANDERSON@EGLIN-VAX.ARPA. Ada 9X is a community project and I am interested
in hearing from you.munck@MBUNIX.MITRE.ORG (Bob Munck) (01/21/89)
Loud applause for the Ada 9X statement of goal: > The overall goal of the Ada 9X Project is to revise ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A > to reflect current essential requirements with minimum negative impact > and maximum positive impact to the Ada community. The Ada 9X process > is a revision and not a redesign of the language and should be viewed > as a natural part of the language maturation process. However, we already seem to be making a much bigger deal of this than is healthy. Remember, to most of the DoD procurement bureaucracy: Ada IS STILL A NEW, UNTRIED AND UNPROVEN IDEA! Their perception could well be that we're "fixing it" because it's broken, and therefore won't be usable until there are commercial 9X compilers (if then). There's real danger that 9X by its very existence will shoot Ada in the foot. Moreover, Ada really is "unproven" in some aspects. No major project has gone far enough through the maintenance phase to give us even anecdotal data about maintenance cost savings, and that's the big payoff we are shooting for. I don't think we understand maintenance and enhancement well enough to even have a "gut feeling" that Ada will save money. So why are we changing the language so soon? To be explicit, it seems to me that the whole Requirements Team/Public Forum/Workshop will be seen to be opening the door for language hackers making large changes. The whole process of designing Ada throughout the 70's was a lot of fun for everyone involved; we cannot allow the 9X effort to be at all similar to that. It must be strongly disciplined to make only changes that are absolutely and completely necessary. I suggest, somewhat satirically, the following rule of thumb: "Any change major enough to be understandable by anyone other than John Goodenough is too big a change." Given my druthers, I wouldn't do 9X at all; it's too dangerous. -- Bob Munck, MITRE (speaking for myself, as always)