3 ms·

The purpose of the language was to serve those limited contexts for which no suitable alternative existed. It’s not meant to be Python.

Jtsummers 5y ago
Ada was not meant to fill a gap where suitable alternatives didn't exist. It was meant to unify, under one language, DOD projects. DOD leadership was concerned about the variety of languages in use in software systems, Ada was designed to become a single language to replace others.
- orhmeh09 5y ago
  I may be at fault for citing Wikipedia, but I think this supports the idea that it was developed to fill a gap: > In the 1970s the US Department of Defense (DoD) became concerned by the number of different programming languages being used for its embedded computer system projects, many of which were obsolete or hardware-dependent, and none of which supported safe modular programming. In 1975, a working group, the High Order Language Working Group (HOLWG), was formed with the intent to reduce this number by finding or creating a programming language generally suitable for the department's and the UK Ministry of Defence's requirements. After many iterations beginning with an original Straw man proposal the eventual programming language was named Ada. The total number of high-level programming languages in use for such projects fell from over 450 in 1983 to 37 by 1996. > The HOLWG working group crafted the Steelman language requirements, a series of documents stating the requirements they felt a programming language should satisfy. Many existing languages were formally reviewed, but the team concluded in 1977 that no existing language met the specifications. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language) (I admit being a little tired to examine a primary source this Sunday. )
- p_l 5y ago
  The previous mess of languages didn't provide the features that were specified as requirements for Ada either - effectively, the previous languages were heavily "first few generations of programming languages", often arcane and with limitations related to platforms that were no longer dominant. JOVIAL which was one of the major ones (even standardized) is essentially a slightly updated (using features like structures) ALGOL 58. Then you have tons of various assemblers. TACPOL. There was a gap for a modern, safety & reliability oriented language - and which could be used to unify the mess that existed before.

Jtsummers 5y ago

Ada was not meant to fill a gap where suitable alternatives didn't exist. It was meant to unify, under one language, DOD projects. DOD leadership was concerned about the variety of languages in use in software systems, Ada was designed to become a single language to replace others.

orhmeh09 5y ago
I may be at fault for citing Wikipedia, but I think this supports the idea that it was developed to fill a gap: > In the 1970s the US Department of Defense (DoD) became concerned by the number of different programming languages being used for its embedded computer system projects, many of which were obsolete or hardware-dependent, and none of which supported safe modular programming. In 1975, a working group, the High Order Language Working Group (HOLWG), was formed with the intent to reduce this number by finding or creating a programming language generally suitable for the department's and the UK Ministry of Defence's requirements. After many iterations beginning with an original Straw man proposal the eventual programming language was named Ada. The total number of high-level programming languages in use for such projects fell from over 450 in 1983 to 37 by 1996. > The HOLWG working group crafted the Steelman language requirements, a series of documents stating the requirements they felt a programming language should satisfy. Many existing languages were formally reviewed, but the team concluded in 1977 that no existing language met the specifications. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language) (I admit being a little tired to examine a primary source this Sunday. )
p_l 5y ago
The previous mess of languages didn't provide the features that were specified as requirements for Ada either - effectively, the previous languages were heavily "first few generations of programming languages", often arcane and with limitations related to platforms that were no longer dominant. JOVIAL which was one of the major ones (even standardized) is essentially a slightly updated (using features like structures) ALGOL 58. Then you have tons of various assemblers. TACPOL. There was a gap for a modern, safety & reliability oriented language - and which could be used to unify the mess that existed before.