Ada and Beyond Software Policies for the Department of Defense (1997) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
The Changing Context for DOD Software Development
The Changing Context for DOD Software Development
Pages 7-18
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From page 7... ...
DOD created Ada in the 1970s to serve as a department-wide standard that would satisfy its special requirements for embedded and mission-critical software, and would also encourage good software engineering. Both the new language and the new software engineering ideas associated with it met with some criticism, and both have evolved as a result.
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From page 8... ...
Jones ( 1 996b) estimates that of the 1.92 million professional programmers in the United States, 90,000, or less than 5 percent, are Ada 83 programmers.3 In an informal review of software engineering employment opportunities advertised in two major newspapers, the committee noted that of more than 1,000 references made to individual programming languages and tools,4 fewer
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From page 9... ...
Market research indicates that nearly all programming language decision makers in nondefense industries are aware of Cobol, C, C++, Fortran, and Pascal, but only two-thirds are aware of Ada; only one-fifth are familiar with Ada's characteristics (Telos, 19941.6 In decisions affecting adoption of programming languages, non-technical factors often dominate specific technical features. These factors include the broad availability of inexpensive compilers and related tools for a wide variety of computing environments, as well as the availability of texts and related training materials.
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From page 10... ...
Thus, organizations seeking to adopt Ada faced near-term costs for new tools, especially the high-priced compilers, in addition to the cost of training people in a language that was not widely taught in academic institutions. Currently, Ada compilers are comparable in quality to those of other 3GEs, and the increased hardware resources needed to run popular software, such as Windows 95, make the requirements of Ada compilers appear more modest.
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From page 11... ...
These suppliers include the Texas Instruments unit that was previously Tartan, TED, OC Systems, DDC-I, RR Software, Intermetrics, Green Hills, ICE, and Ada Core Technologies (which was formed to support and commercialize GNAT)
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From page 12... ...
DOD PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE POLICY Policy History DOD's decision to design Ada as a new programming language for embedded applications was a reaction to both the "software crisis" of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the advent of software engineering concepts. It was also a response to the fact that each of the military services had developed separate programming languages that each was planning to independently standardize, upgrade, and improve.
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From page 13... ...
Moreover, the conversion to a new, common, high-order programming language was viewed by some as a vehicle for DOD-wide efforts to improve software engineering. The new DOD language, which eventually became Ada, was intended to be a modern programming language that would reflect the accumulated knowledge of programming language design and provide the appropriate set of concepts and features for implementing embedded systems.
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From page 14... ...
Thus, it appears that DOD will continue to operate in a CCpolylingual', world.l Adams Place in Current DOD Programming Language Policy DOD policy states that Ada is to be the C`single, common, computer programming language for Defense computer resources used in intelligence systems, for the command and control of military forces, or as an integral part of a weapon system" (DOD, 1987a)
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From page 15... ...
For example, cutbacks in several DOD organizations in the early 1990s appear to have caused numerous software experts to leave DOD for industry. The approach that the Defense Science Board recommended was, "Do not believe DOD can solve its skilled personnel shortage; plan how best to live with it, and how to ameliorate it." Level of Applicability Another recurring issue and ambiguity in current DOD policy on programming languages is that it reflects a system-level view of software that does not consider subsystems independently.
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From page 16... ...
Narrow interpretation of the policy has led to a number of poor decisions to use Ada, even when other solutions offered significant improvements in capability. For example, certain graphical user interface development tools have frequently not been used simply because they did not generate Ada or were not written in Ada.
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From page 17... ...
Chapter 2 addresses the importance of software engineering practices and their relationship to programming languages, and points out connections that DOD policy should take into account; Chapter 4 discusses implementation of a broader DOD software policy. ~ Are there application areas where using Ada makes art appreciable positive difference?
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From page 18... ...
2. For descriptions of non-DOD projects using Ada, particularly in aerospace, transportation, and telecommunications, see "Ada Success Stories," maintained by the Ada Information Clearinghouse, located on the World Wide Web at http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/AdaIC/usage.
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