dmb@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (David Berstein) (08/13/90)
I'm presently researching the trade-offs between using the C or Ada language for applications which will utilize the X window system. Any references to articles, statistics, or personal experience would be greatly appreciated.
chapman@lll-crg.llnl.gov (Carol Chapman) (08/14/90)
Hi David, You asked about developing X applications in C vs. Ada. I developed X applications using C for 2 years and have now been doing it in Ada for the last 5 months. Ada is not a bad language, some aspects of it I really like, but there are no standard Ada bindings. This creates a *lot* of headaches. Plus, if you want to write your own widget, you really *have* to do it in C, as far as I know. Not only did I switch from C to Ada when I moved to another group, but this new group is using VMS rather than UNIX. That has also been a headache, although it has gotten a lot better now that we have the latest version of DECwindows and are starting to use Motif. My recommendation would be to stick with C, but use lots of comments to help those who may have to maintain it later on. Ada is "do-able", but I really don't recommend it unless the X Consortium recognizes a standard Ada binding. carol Carol Chapman Tel. (415) 423-7876 Livermore National Laboratory chapman@lll-crg.llnl.gov P. O. Box 808, L-572 "Are you in charge here?" Livermore, CA 94550 "No, but I'm full of ideas!" -- Dr. Who
karl@grebyn.com (Karl A. Nyberg) (08/15/90)
In article <6271@aplcen.apl.jhu.edu> dmb@aplcomm.jhuapl.edu (David Berstein) writes: > >I'm presently researching the trade-offs between using the C or Ada language >for applications which will utilize the X window system. Any references to >articles, statistics, or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. I've been using Ada with Verdix VADS 6.0 on a microVAX II/Ultrix 3.0 and the SAIC bindings to Xlib just fine. I wish I had a faster computer and more memory... -- Karl -- Disclaimer: I make money selling products and services to companies involved with Ada, including Verdix. Karl A. Nyberg karl@grebyn.com Post Office Box 497 Grebyn Corporation Vienna, VA 22183-0497 USA +1-703-281-2194