From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: jpl.jpl at gmail.com (John P. Linderman) Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2020 12:01:05 -0400 Subject: [COFF] Popular Programming languages over time In-Reply-To: References: <20200319023423.GZ26660@mcvoy.com> Message-ID: I proofread an Ada book by Narain Gehani, 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 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://www.mcvoy.com/lm > > _______________________________________________ > > COFF mailing list > > COFF at minnie.tuhs.org > > https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/coff > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > COFF mailing list > > COFF at minnie.tuhs.org > > https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/coff > > -- > Digital had it then. Don't you wish you could buy it now! > pechter-at-gmail.com http://xkcd.com/705/ > > _______________________________________________ > COFF mailing list > COFF at minnie.tuhs.org > https://minnie.tuhs.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/coff > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: