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| name = Ada
| logo = Ada horizon green logo with slogan.svg
| logo alt = Green logo on horizon with Ada letters and slogan
| paradigm = [[Multi-paradigm programming language|Multi-paradigm]]: [[Structured programming|structured]], [[Imperative programming|imperative]], [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]], [[Aspect-oriented programming|aspect-oriented]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adacore.com/uploads/technical-papers/Ada2012_Rational_Introducion.pdf|title=Ada2012 Rationale|website=adacore.com|access-date=5 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418132340/http://www.adacore.com/uploads/technical-papers/Ada2012_Rational_Introducion.pdf|archive-date=18 April 2016}}</ref> [[Concurrent programming|concurrent]], [[Array programming|array]], [[Distributed computing|distributed]], [[Generic programming|generic]], [[Procedural programming|procedural]], [[Metaprogramming|meta]]
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| operating system = Multi- or [[cross-platform]]
| file ext = .adb, .ads
| website = {{
| wikibooks = Ada Programming
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HOLWG crafted the '''<span class="anchor" id="Steelman language requirements">Steelman language requirements</span>''' , 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. The requirements were created by the [[United States Department of Defense]] in ''The Department of Defense Common High Order Language program'' in 1978. The predecessors of this document were called, in order, "Strawman", "Woodenman", "Tinman" and "Ironman".<ref>Department of Defense (June 1978), [https://web.archive.org/web/20200914235620/https://dwheeler.com/steelman/steelman.htm Requirements for High Order Computer Programming Languages: "Steelman"]</ref> The requirements focused on the needs of [[embedded systems|embedded]] computer applications, and emphasised reliability, maintainability, and efficiency. Notably, they included [[exception handling]] facilities, [[run-time checking]], and [[parallel computing]].
It was concluded that no existing language met these criteria to a sufficient extent,<ref>SoftTech Inc. (1976), [https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA037637/mode/2up "Evaluation of ALGOL 68, Jovial J3B, Pascal, SIMULA 67, and TACPOL Versus TINMAN - Requirements for a Common High Order Programming Language."] - See also: [[ALGOL 68]], [[JOVIAL|Jovial]] J3B, [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], [[SIMULA]] 67, and [[TACPOL]] (Defense Technical Information Center - DTIC ADA037637, Report Number 1021-14)</ref> so a contest was called to create a language that would be closer to fulfilling them. The design that won this contest became the
[[File:Ada Lovelace portrait.jpg|thumb|225x225px|Watercolour painting of Ada Lovelace]]
Requests for proposals for a new programming language were issued and four contractors were hired to develop their proposals under the names of Red ([[Intermetrics]] led by Benjamin Brosgol), Green ([[Honeywell]], led by [[Jean Ichbiah]]), Blue ([[SofTech, Inc.|SofTech]], led by John Goodenough)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sei.cmu.edu/about/people/jbg.cfm |title=John Goodenough | SEI Staff Profile |publisher=Sei.cmu.edu |access-date=2014-01-27}}</ref> and Yellow ([[SRI International]], led by Jay Spitzen).<!-- Though Intermetrics and Bull have previous links, I am including them for parallelism. --> In April 1978, after public scrutiny, the Red and Green proposals passed to the next phase. In May 1979, the Green proposal, designed by Jean Ichbiah at Honeywell, was chosen and given the name Ada—after Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, usually known as [[Ada Lovelace]]. This proposal was influenced by the language [[LIS (programming language)|LIS]] that Ichbiah and his group had developed in the 1970s. The preliminary Ada reference manual was published in ACM SIGPLAN Notices in June 1979. The Military Standard reference manual was approved on December 10, 1980 (Ada Lovelace's birthday), and given the number MIL-STD-1815 in honor of Ada Lovelace's birth year. In 1981, [[Tony Hoare]] took advantage of his [[Turing Award]] speech to criticize Ada for being overly complex and hence unreliable,<ref>{{cite journal |last=C.A.R. |first=Hoare |author-link=Tony Hoare |date=1981 |title=The Emperor's Old Clothes |url=http://zoo.cs.yale.edu/classes/cs422/2011/bib/hoare81emperor.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Communications of the ACM |publisher=[[Association for Computing Machinery]] |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=75–83 |doi=10.1145/358549.358561 |s2cid=97895 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304012013/http://zoo.cs.yale.edu/classes/cs422/2011/bib/hoare81emperor.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-04 |doi-access=free}}</ref> but subsequently seemed to recant in the foreword he wrote for an Ada textbook.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Watt |first1=D.A. |last2=Wichmann |first2=B.A. |last3=Findlay |first3=W. |title=Ada: Language and Methodology |publisher=Prentice-Hall |date=1987}}</ref>
Ada attracted much attention from the programming community as a whole during its early days. Its backers and others predicted that it might become a dominant language for general purpose programming and not only defense-related work.<ref name="sward" /> Ichbiah publicly stated that within ten years, only two programming languages would remain: Ada and [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]].<ref name="SIGAda-Rosen">{{cite journal |last=Rosen |first=J-P. |title=The Ada Paradox(es) |journal=Ada Letters |publisher=ACM SIGAda |volume=24 |issue=2 |date=August 2009 |pages=28–35|doi=10.1145/1620593.1620597 |s2cid=608405}}</ref> Early Ada compilers struggled to implement the large, complex language, and both compile-time and run-time performance tended to be slow and tools primitive.<ref name="sward" /> Compiler vendors expended most of their efforts in passing the massive, language-conformance-testing, government-required [[Ada Compiler Validation Capability]] (ACVC) validation suite that was required in another novel feature of the Ada language effort.<ref name="SIGAda-Rosen" />
The first validated Ada implementation was the NYU Ada/Ed translator,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA136759 |title=Ada Compiler Validation Summary Report: NYU Ada/ED, Version 19.7 V-001 |author=SofTech Inc. |place=Waltham, MA |date=1983-04-11 |access-date=2010-12-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312080046/http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA136759 |archive-date=2012-03-12 |url-status=dead}}</ref> certified on April 11, 1983. NYU Ada/Ed is implemented in the high-level set language [[SETL]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dewar |first1=Robert B. K. |last2=Fisher |first2=Gerald A. Jr. |last3=Schonberg |first3=Edmond |last4=Froelich |first4=Robert |last5=Bryant |first5=Stephen |last6=Goss |first6=Clinton F. |last7=Burke |first7=Michael |title=Proceeding of the ACM-SIGPLAN symposium on Ada programming language – SIGPLAN '80 |chapter=The NYU Ada translator and interpreter |volume=15 |issue=11 |pages=194–201 |date=November 1980 |isbn=0-89791-030-3 |doi=10.1145/948632.948659|s2cid=10586359}}</ref> Several commercial companies began offering Ada compilers and associated development tools, including [[Alsys]], [[TeleSoft]], [[DDC-I]], [[Advanced Computer Techniques]], [[Tartan Laboratories]], [[Irvine Compiler]], [[TLD Systems]], and [[Verdix]].<ref name="adaic-1992">{{cite news |title=Ada Validated Compilers List |publisher=Ada Information Clearinghouse |date=July 1, 1992 |pages=1–36}}</ref> Computer manufacturers who had a significant business in the defense, aerospace, or related industries, also offered Ada compilers and tools on their platforms; these included [[Concurrent Computer Corporation]], [[Cray Research, Inc.]], [[Digital Equipment Corporation]], [[Harris Computer Systems]], and [[Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG]].<ref name="adaic-1992" />
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