Ada for Not Yet Techies

"Computer Careers: The First Internationally Standardized Object Oriented Language for High Tech Jobs"

by Richard Stooker, President Info Ring Press and author of Secrets of Changing to a Computer Career

Ada has an interesting history for a computer programming language. Ada started around 1974, when the US Department of Defense started taking a hard look at its use of computers by its computer career employees.

Ada found that its software for embedded computers was developed and maintained in about 1500 sometimes proprietary, often obsolete, programming languages. They concluded this was ridiculous and expensive. In 1975 the Department of Defense established requirements for a high-level language that could be used in all defense projects. In 1976, 23 existing languages were formally reviewed. None met the requirements.

They therefore decided they needed to create a new language

Almost 20 language proposals were made by design teams from around the world. Four contractors were selected to produce prototype languages (Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow), and finally one was chosen: Green. This language was developed by a Honeywell team located near Paris, France. The principal designer was Jean Ichbiah.

Ada is still used principally by the Department of Defense and employees with computer jobs there

Public Law 101-511 Sec 8092:

"Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, after June 1, 1991, where cost effective, all Department of Defense software shall be written in the programming language Ada, in the absence of special exemption by an official designated by the Secretary of Defense."

This situation has led the general impression that it is only "good enough for government work." I do know that Ada programmers themselves are proud of the language and feel it’s unjustly maligned.

They emphasize that it was designed to support "sound software engineering principles and practices."

It is the result of careful, deliberate design choices. Ada was intended to solve (directly or indirectly) many definite problems in software engineering. According to what I read, "many of these problems still plague those who do not use it."

Ada - Page 2

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