Ada (programming language): Difference between revisions

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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 }}</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" />

In 1991, the US Department of Defense began to require the use of Ada (the ''Ada mandate'') for all software,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.adaic.com/pol-hist/policy/mandate.txt |title=The Congressional Ada Mandate |author=Ada Information Clearinghouse |date=1994 |access-date=2015-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073005/http://archive.adaic.com/pol-hist/policy/mandate.txt |archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref> though exceptions to this rule were often granted.<ref name="sward" /> The Department of Defense Ada mandate was effectively removed in 1997, as the DoD began to embrace [[commercial off-the-shelf]] (COTS) technology.<ref name="sward">{{cite conference |contribution=The rise, fall and persistence of Ada |first=Ricky E. |last=Sward |date=November 2010 |title=SIGAda '10: Proceedings of the ACM SIGAda annual international conference on SIGAda |pages=71–74 |url=http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1879063.1879081&coll=DL&dl=GUIDE&CFID=551420221&CFTOKEN=60383966 | doi=10.1145/1879063.1879081|isbn=978-1-4503-0027-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Similar requirements existed in other [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] countries: Ada was required for NATO systems involving [[command and control]] and other functions, and Ada was the mandated or preferred language for defense-related applications in countries such as Sweden, Germany, and Canada.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a217657.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215065214/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a217657.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |first=Nicholas J. |last=Babiak |title=Ada, the New DoD Weapon System Computer Language – Panacea or Calamity |publisher=[[Air University (United States Air Force)]] |date=1989 |pages=39–40}}</ref>

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Ada compilers had improved in performance, but there were still barriers to fully exploiting Ada's abilities, including a tasking model that was different from what most real-time programmers were used to.<ref name="SIGAda-Rosen" />