[COFF] Popular Programming languages over time

[jpl.jpl at gmail.com (John P. Linderman)]

I proofread an Ada book by Narain Gehani,
<https://www.amazon.com/ADA-Advanced-Introduction-Prentice-Hall-software/dp/0130039977>
a
colleague at the Labs. He had a nuclear reactor example with a sign error
in the cooling control, so if it started to overheat, it would overheat
faster. I *begged* him to leave the example untouched, as an example of why
just because something compiled didn't mean it was correct. He just
corrected the error, in my opinion, missing a valuable teaching moment.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2020 at 11:31 AM William Pechter <pechter at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> On 3/19/20 11:04 AM, Clem Cole wrote:
> > I saw that a while ago.  I'd love to know more about the dataset
> > behind it as Larry asked,
> >
> > FWIW: Pascal/Delphi being big did not surprise me as it was what was
> > taught in the colleges in the 70s.   Today they are teaching Python
> > and Java so we see generations of new programmers going into the world
> > with those skills (like my own daughter).
> >
> > Larry - I think the way to explain Ada, is that it was very big for a
> > while when DoD, DoC and some of DoE when USG bids required it.  But as
> > fast as it rose, it fell pretty fast from favor.
> >
> Actually, since the DOD's Ada Language System was being tested on the
> dual 11/780  Vaxes I supported at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey -- the
> language was just part of what was in the works.
>
> This was back in the 1983 timeframe.  Wikipedia shows that the DOD had a
> contract from 1977 to 1983 to come up with the OS which was supposedly
> targeted at embedded and real-time systems.
>
> At the time there were tons of different small C-compilers used on
> different parts of the same project -- with the ton of licenses required
> for each chip and RTOS supported.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language)#Standardization
>
> Softech's Ada Language system had its hooks so far into VAX/VMS 3.x that
> shutting down the VAX/VMS system would crash the machine with a
> bugcheck.  I think somewhere there was a thought of a single Ada
> environment and programming tools across the various operating systems.
>
> I think the government wanted to standardize the military deveopment
> process... which at the time used a jumble of languages, embedded
> systems and RTOS's from various vendors with convoluted make files tied
> to the development environments for each part of a military
> intelligence/weapons system.  A bit of a bitch to maintain -- any change
> to one part could keep the rest from building.
>
> After Softech... NYU (IIRC) developed what is now known as GNAT -- the
> Gnu NYU Ada
>
> After my DEC job I did a couple of years as a system admin along with my
> wife.  We were building a new piece of software and she had the target
> system.  Fun when the embedded C compiler 100 lines in the build script
> suddenly goes out of license complience and stops building for no real
> reason... And the sysadmin has no docs as to how this builds.
>
> At the same time the government canceled a project to build a standard
> military computer family (chip)  which I think was the original idea and
> end target for all of this.  RCA, GE and others were trying to develop
> this but the release of the MicroVax2 kind of took the wind out of the
> sails -- and the Patriot missile (IIRC) used a Raytheon built box using
> the uVax chip set.
>
> (Don't know if this is the board used then but it's of a similar
> timeframe)...
>
> https://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102757133
>
> It was the Reagan admin and it was very different times in software with
> more contractors working in different locations on pieces of projects
> and the integration was difficult.
>
> Bill
>
>
> >     ---
> >     Larry McVoy                  lm at mcvoy.com <http://mcvoy.com>
> >     http://www.mcvoy.com/lm
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> >
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> --
> Digital had it then.  Don't you wish you could buy it now!
> pechter-at-gmail.com  http://xkcd.com/705/
>
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