Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

[Gregory Aharonian]

>I'm curious to know if newly-written perl scripts are permitted in the
>world of mandated Ada.  I used to write software in a mixture of about
>80% C and 20% sh/csh/awk/sed.  Now it's more like 50% perl and 50% C,
>with some C++ creeping in.  I see no reason why, given slightly
>different circumstances, it couldn't be 50% perl and 50% Ada.
>
>But how does the Ada world cope with the many things the perl does so
>well and no other language does?

    As an example, from what I hear through the grapevine, the current
hot language being used for all new things at that bastion of defense of
Ada and the Mandate, MITRE, is perl.  So that's one way to deal with
perl in the Mandated world, just use it.

    50% perl and 50% Ada is like 50% Bahai and 50% Catholic.  One half
doesn't mind, the other half sees heresy.

Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimization
-- 
**************************************************************************
Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimiztion
P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178

Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

[David Emery]

>    As an example, from what I hear through the grapevine, the current
>hot language being used for all new things at that bastion of defense of
>Ada and the Mandate, MITRE, is perl.  So that's one way to deal with
>perl in the Mandated world, just use it.

I don't know where you get your information, but I can assure you that
the last development project *we* did here was 99.44% Ada (see my
posting on RPCs).  MITRE is a big place, and I'm sure there are people
doing things in PERL.  But I know of no major system (e.g. AWACS,
Joint STARS, SDI) using PERL.

					dave

Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

[Mark A Biggar]

In article <C54uLt.r2@rahul.net> dhesi@rahul.net (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
>I'm curious to know if newly-written perl scripts are permitted in the
>world of mandated Ada.  I used to write software in a mixture of about
>80% C and 20% sh/csh/awk/sed.  Now it's more like 50% perl and 50% C,
>with some C++ creeping in.  I see no reason why, given slightly
>different circumstances, it couldn't be 50% perl and 50% Ada.
>But how does the Ada world cope with the many things the perl does so
>well and no other language does?

We went throught this (specifically looking at the case of scripting languages
associated with GUI builders) and found no help.  At least the ARMY 
regulations about what requires a wavier seem to outlaw all scripting languages
except in two cases: there is a blanket permission to use SQL to access
databases and if a scripting language is translated into Ada as part
of its compliation or interpretation process it is allowed.  Otherwise no go.
We also thought but could never get verified that if the interpeter were
written in Ada then you probably don't need a wavier.

--
Mark Biggar
mab@wdl1.wdl.loral.com

Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

[Larry Wall]

In article <SRCTRAN.93Apr7234112@world.std.com> srctran@world.std.com (Gregory 
Aharonian) writes:
:     50% perl and 50% Ada is like 50% Bahai and 50% Catholic.  One half
: doesn't mind, the other half sees heresy.

Both sides are, of course, correct.

Larry Wall
lwall@netlabs.com

Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

[cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!news.service.uci.edu!net]

In article <EMERY.93Apr8091553@goldfinger.mitre.org> emery@goldfinger.mitre.org
 (David Emery) writes:
: I don't know where you get your information, but I can assure you that
: the last development project *we* did here was 99.44% Ada (see my
: posting on RPCs).  MITRE is a big place, and I'm sure there are people
: doing things in PERL.  But I know of no major system (e.g. AWACS,
: Joint STARS, SDI) using PERL.

And anyone who writes a major, "mission critical", system using Perl is
totally nuts anyway (even if Perl does have "packages", and numbers like
10_000_000.)  Perl isn't a Lego language, it's an Elmer's language.
Use non-discrete structural materials with discretion.

Frankly, if I got on a 787, and the pilot announced that the author of
the language in which the plane's avionics were written had just
boarded the plane, I'd get right back off again, whether or not the
pilot meant me.  Mission critical software *shouldn't* have one author.
There are other kinds of software which *should* have one author.

Whenever people have silly debates I love to agree with both sides.
It confuses them more than if I disagree with both sides...

Larry Wall
lwall@netlabs.com

Re: perl in an Ada-mandated world

[cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.n]

Newsgroups: Comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: LISP in the Ada-mandated world (was Re: perl ... )
References: <1993Apr9.152116.3070@evb.com>

I get the idea ... If we write our LISP interpreter/compilers in Ada,
and our Jovial compilers in Ada, and our C compilers in Ada then any
language goes.  We could even use the automatic X-to-Ada translator
to re-write our existing compilers in Ada, and then we could attain all 
the advances in software engineering and reductions in life-cycle cost 
intended by the mandate without giving up PERL, APL, COBOL, FORTRAN IV, 
*LISP, Common LISP, SNOBOL, PL/1, Modula, Eiffel, CLU, Basic, Jovial, 
SPL/1, TACPOL, Smalltalk, Pascal, or that other language.

Perhaps if we re-write some Assemblers in Ada ...

-- Mike ;-) Ryer (speaking for myself only)