BACKGROUND

C created in 1970s to support system software development
- “Portable assembly language” - Dennis Ritchie (C co-developer)
Ada 83 designed to address issues related to complex systems
C++ added object-oriented features and some type checking to C
Ada 95 revision based on a decade of experience with Ada 83
- Real-time and distribution upgrades
- Object-oriented features
- “Programming in the large” upgrades
C in widespread use in commercial industry; C++ use increasing
Ada 83 used predominantly in complex/real-time system market

From the Script: SLIDE 6 - Background

C was created in the 1970s as a "portable assembly language" to support system software development.

Ada 83, adopted as a standard in 1983, was designed to meet the requirements of developing large, complex systems. But, Ada 83 lacked complete support for object-oriented programming.

Ada 83 has been used successfully for many DOD/NASA and commercial projects since 1983. There are 10's of millions of lines of Ada code available, most of which can be reused.

C++ has been marketed by the industry heavyweights and is seeing increased use. It features object-oriented programming and builds on the popularity of C, which currently enjoys widespread use in commercial industry; but C++ is not standardized, thereby making portability extremely difficult. (A) C++ standard is not expected until September of 1998 with compiler vendors having a stable implementation soon thereafter.

Enhanced support for real-time processing

Distributed-systems capabilities

Hierarchical name space and other features for large programming efforts.

Complete support for object-oriented programming

Decimal arithmetic (which Ada 83 lacked).

Direct support for the developement of Management Information Systems.

Highly reliable for safety and critical systems

Numerous other features.