THREE MORE Ada 95 COMPILERS NOW AVAILABLE

Ada Core Technologies and Silicon Graphics, Inc. have released three GNAT, Version 3.00, Ada 95 compilers. The compilers are hosted on SGI Indy, SGI Indigo-2 and SGI Onyx, all are under the IRIX 5.3 operating system. The target for each compiler is the same as the host.

SOURCE:
Ada Information Clearinghouse

NUMBER OF AVAILABLE Ada COURSES GROWS BY 25%

Version 8.0 of the CREASE (Catalog of Resources for Education in Ada and Software Engineering) has recently been completed and will be released in January 1996. The CREASE offers detailed information about 599 Ada courses offered by 323 institutions throughout the world. It also provides information about available Ada books and videotapes, computer-aided instruction and free educational resources.

According to the data collected, the number of available Ada courses has grown by 25%, and the number of institutions offering Ada training has grown by 26% since the release of version 7 last year. Of the courses, nearly 15% have already moved up to Ada 95.

To obtain a hard copy of the entire CREASE, please contact the AdaIC at 1-800/AdaIC-11. The CREASE database is also available for searching on the AdaIC's web site://sweng. falls-church.va.us.

SOURCE:
Ada Information Clearinghouse

TRANSLATING C++ SOFTWARE INTO Ada 95

"Translating C++ Software into Ada 95," by Ensign Kimberly K. Uhde and Dr. Stephen R. Schach, describes a case study in which a translation from C++ into Ada 95 was performed manually. The various difficulties that were encountered are described, together with the solutions that were adopted. The article concludes with a justification for an automatic translator from C++ to Ada 95.

According to the authors, "The key aspect of this work is that, based on our case study, we believe we can construct an automatic tool that can translate a C++ software product into Ada 95 with minimal human intervention. Furthermore, the resulting Ada 95 product will be readable and hence maintainable and reusable." Use of the proposed C++ to Ada 95 translator would have two immediate positive effects:

  1. Increase the reliability of production-mode software currently implemented in C++ (by translating it to Ada 95).
  2. Increase the quantity of production-mode Ada 95 software, thereby giving Ada a more visible role in the objectoriented world.

SOURCE:
Uhde, Kimberly K., U.S. Navy and Dr. Stephen R. Schach, 

        Vanderbilt University. "Translating C++ Software into 
        Ada 95." Crosstalk. October 1995 (Vol.8, No.10): 10-12.

POINT OF CONTACT:
Crosstalk, Ogden ALC/TISE, 7278 Fourth St., Hill AFB, UT 84056-5205; 801/777-8045; http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil.

REUSE THROUGH GENERIC TEMPLATES

"Reuse Through Generic Templates," by Richard Riehle focuses on the importance of genericity in software reuse for typed languages. Examples are provided in Ada and attention is paid to Ada's new capabilities for generic formal parameters. The column concludes with a summary of the status of Ada 95 compilers and usage. Also included are a few comments regarding the state of Ada in both commercial and DoD software practice.

SOURCE:
Riehle, Richard. "Reuse Through Generic Templates." Journal 

        of Object-Oriented Programming. November/December 1995 
        (Vol.8, No.7): 66-70.

POINT OF CONTACT:
JOOP - 71 West 23rd St., 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10010. Richard Riehle - AdaWorks, adaworks@netcom.com.