4 ms·

I've read the book on ada language recently and it looked interesting, but the developer experience is a mess. IDE that' s provided got kicked out from ubuntu r

by can3p 5y ago

I've read the book on ada language recently and it looked interesting, but the developer experience is a mess. IDE that' s provided got kicked out from ubuntu repositories due to complicated build process. Language server is there, but there is not much documentation in the wild and the community is quite small and the whole situation with gpl compiler affecting compiled programs is poisoning. I think ada as a language is in a very similar place to common lisp - there are few commercial vendors (one in case of ada) that sell compiler(s) and support to companies with a lot of existing code, but not much new stuff happening apart from few enthusiasts. =It's just my anecdotal experience tough.

can3p 5y ago
Edit: the book => a book
pjmlp 5y ago
There are 7 commercial vendors for Ada. https://www.adacore.com/ https://www.adacore.com/ https://www.ghs.com/products/ada_optimizing_compilers.html https://www.ghs.com/products/ada_optimizing_compilers.html https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/apexada https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/apexada https://www.ddci.com/products_score/ https://www.ddci.com/products_score/ http://www.irvine.com/tech.html http://www.irvine.com/tech.html http://www.ocsystems.com/w/index.php/OCS:PowerAda http://www.ocsystems.com/w/index.php/OCS:PowerAda http://www.rrsoftware.com/html/prodinf/janus95/j-ada95.htm http://www.rrsoftware.com/html/prodinf/janus95/j-ada95.htm
OnlyOneCannolo 5y ago
Ada is mostly used by professionals, not enthusiasts. It has a captive audience of governments and companies working on safety-critical systems where they have strict toolchain requirements or legacy systems. Pretty much the only thing that can move those users off Ada is to retire older systems, and rebuild their processes for C++. That's tough to justify when the language and ecosystem are still actively developed (paid, not free tools). Things like a language server are unimportant when your IDE must be qualified, and you're not allowed to install or use any software of your choosing. You will never see most of what goes on with Ada outside of a work environment. Its continued use is largely unaffected by anything you'd see in the open source community.
- vintermann 5y ago
  > Ada is mostly used by professionals, not enthusiasts. A polite way of saying it's rarely used willingly.
  - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
    It had no free complier for a long time and a good IDE is still quite expensive. Overall, it's a pretty nice language.
    - Jtsummers 5y ago
      GNAT has existed since 1996. It’s had a free compiler for a very long time.
      - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
        Ada was released in 1980. It finally got a free compiler when the Air Force paid for one in 1995 fifteen years later and it took until 2001 for this code to finally be merged with the rest of GCC. It definitely had no free compiler for a long time.
        Jtsummers 5y ago
        That it took 16 years to develop a free compiler for a relatively niche language in the era when relatively few people were online yet in any meaningful sense is not terribly shocking. The language, going with the date of the first spec, is now 41 years old. So 25 years of its existence, there has been a free compiler. Quite a bit longer than the time spent without one.
  - OnlyOneCannolo 5y ago
    That's not at all what I'm saying. Aside from web development, most professional tools are only used by professionals because they cost money. It wouldn't make sense to judge something by the free toy versions that happen to exist.

by can3p 5y ago

can3p 5y ago

Edit: the book => a book

pjmlp 5y ago

There are 7 commercial vendors for Ada. https://www.adacore.com/ https://www.adacore.com/ https://www.ghs.com/products/ada_optimizing_compilers.html https://www.ghs.com/products/ada_optimizing_compilers.html https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/apexada https://www.ptc.com/en/products/developer-tools/apexada https://www.ddci.com/products_score/ https://www.ddci.com/products_score/ http://www.irvine.com/tech.html http://www.irvine.com/tech.html http://www.ocsystems.com/w/index.php/OCS:PowerAda http://www.ocsystems.com/w/index.php/OCS:PowerAda http://www.rrsoftware.com/html/prodinf/janus95/j-ada95.htm http://www.rrsoftware.com/html/prodinf/janus95/j-ada95.htm

OnlyOneCannolo 5y ago

Ada is mostly used by professionals, not enthusiasts. It has a captive audience of governments and companies working on safety-critical systems where they have strict toolchain requirements or legacy systems. Pretty much the only thing that can move those users off Ada is to retire older systems, and rebuild their processes for C++. That's tough to justify when the language and ecosystem are still actively developed (paid, not free tools). Things like a language server are unimportant when your IDE must be qualified, and you're not allowed to install or use any software of your choosing. You will never see most of what goes on with Ada outside of a work environment. Its continued use is largely unaffected by anything you'd see in the open source community.

vintermann 5y ago
> Ada is mostly used by professionals, not enthusiasts. A polite way of saying it's rarely used willingly.
- WastingMyTime89 5y ago
  It had no free complier for a long time and a good IDE is still quite expensive. Overall, it's a pretty nice language.
  - Jtsummers 5y ago
    GNAT has existed since 1996. It’s had a free compiler for a very long time.
    - WastingMyTime89 5y ago
      Ada was released in 1980. It finally got a free compiler when the Air Force paid for one in 1995 fifteen years later and it took until 2001 for this code to finally be merged with the rest of GCC. It definitely had no free compiler for a long time.
      - Jtsummers 5y ago
        That it took 16 years to develop a free compiler for a relatively niche language in the era when relatively few people were online yet in any meaningful sense is not terribly shocking. The language, going with the date of the first spec, is now 41 years old. So 25 years of its existence, there has been a free compiler. Quite a bit longer than the time spent without one.
- OnlyOneCannolo 5y ago
  That's not at all what I'm saying. Aside from web development, most professional tools are only used by professionals because they cost money. It wouldn't make sense to judge something by the free toy versions that happen to exist.