Re: Ada to C translator

[Ted Dennison <dennison@escmail.orl.lmco.com>]

Larry Kilgallen wrote:
> 
> In article <32E4C115.55BD@iies.es>, Gabriel Rouzaut <gabmrou@iies.es> writes:
> > Does anybody knows any tool to translate Ada source files to
> > C/C++ source files?. I was looking for it on the net, but I
> > couldn't find any.
> 
> The consensus in comp.lang.ada from the _many_ times this has been
> addressed in the past is that no general purpose translator could
> be built since the semantics of Ada are a superset of the semantics
> of C or C++ (no tasking for example).  Please read archives of the
> comp.lang.ada rather than starting the discussion up from scratch.
> 
> > I was told that some Ada compilers use C as intermediate language
> > before compilation. Does anybody know one?.
> 
> I don't know of any, but sometimes such reports are confused due
> to the fact that Ada compilers and C compilers use a common back
> end.  Examples are GNAT and DEC Ada.  In each case the back end
> has to include at least some Ada-specific features, which some
> might views as "proof by example" that a general purpose Ada-to-C
> translator is not possible.

This is one of the better explanations I have seen on this subject. It
would be a good candidate for inclusion in the c.l.a FAQ (hint hint).



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T.E.D.          
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