[GAP] Regarding Cyril's Reply to My Rant

[Robert Dewar]

Riehle, Richard (CIV) wrote:

> You, Robert, have been active building support for Ada along with
> keeping
> an important company that contributes to the success of Ada.   However, 
> one or two of us, or even a dozen of us, is not sufficient.   As I noted
> in an earlier post, we need a strategy along with an action plan that
> can
> help us move Ada further into the public's attention. 

We have been engaged in a significant campaign to increase Ada
awareness for some time, and there have been MANY very nice
Ada story placements in important places over the last year. I
am disappointed you are not more aware of them, but I do know
that many managers etc *do* see these articles and they are
important.

> mission-sensitive, involves a lot of embedded systems, and must work as
> intended each and every time it is used or big trouble will result.  My
> comments about Ada are met with good humor, but an eventual shrug of the
> shoulders -- "Not my concern."

As I say, many important military A&D contracts are using Ada, you
should definitely be aware of important examples for such discussions.
> 
> When I mentioned that the perception that Ada is not being widely used,
> you suggested doing my "homework."  That is not so easy to do these days.
> When AJPO kept a running list of projects, it was pretty easy.   Now, even
> thosr in the DoD who ought to know, don't.   Others who do know, won't tell.

As I say, follow the www.adacore.com site, you might want to setup an
automatic feed from our press center.

> So,
> I can only go by the funded research that I see come into this school.
> None
> of it is for Ada.  It would be great if someone were keeping a central
> list
> of projects so we could access [and verify] that list. 

Well funded research is probably the last place to look for Ada. But
so what? There was never any funded research that mentioned Visual
Basic or COBOL, but these languages were and still are used extensively.

> My interest is in resurrecting Ada as an academic subject that people
> actually want to support.   I realize it will never again be a widely
> regarded "first language."  However,  as Martin noted, it is even 
> vanishing from the USAF Academy.   The fact that someone at some school
> is a member of GAP or individually using the language is not the same
> as having a committment from the computer science department to actually
> include Ada as part of the curriculum.  

Generally the requirement for GAP membership is that Ada appear at some
point in the curriculum.
> 
> I will do my best to keep some aspect of Ada alive here at NPS.  I may
> even be able to get some M.S. student to do another project using Ada.
> But that is not enough.
> 
> We still need a strategy that can bring Ada back to the attention of
> those who need to know about it.  Those case history stories in widely-read
> publications would be a great start, but who will write them?

Are you aware of the ones we have published? If not, you should be!
> 
> Thanks for your contribution to this conversation, Robert.  As noted
> above, your wisdom is always appreciated and welcome.

Well it's not just a matter of contributing to the conversation. AdaCore
has a significant marketing department, and invests significant 
resources in increasing Ada awareness. I have published more articles
this last year than in any year I was at the university, and many other
people at AdaCore have also published articles.