Path: csiph.com!x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net!usenet.pasdenom.info!news.albasani.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Niklas Holsti Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.programmer Subject: Re: Using Enumerated Types as Array Indexes Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:59:03 +0300 Organization: Tidorum Ltd Lines: 50 Message-ID: <9b3v28Faj1U1@mid.individual.net> References: <9b1c66Fn1nU1@mid.individual.net> <4e4c7104$0$308$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net kl7AdYuj92YrZh2XtZirpg4rp4LE+C95l4qwq1Y81vNVOFxRvC Cancel-Lock: sha1:tOwdMAowt7njH2QQDpO8IaRmErQ= User-Agent: Mozilla-Thunderbird 2.0.0.24 (X11/20100328) In-Reply-To: <4e4c7104$0$308$14726298@news.sunsite.dk> Xref: x330-a1.tempe.blueboxinc.net comp.lang.java.programmer:7208 Arne Vajhøj wrote: > On 8/17/2011 4:24 AM, Niklas Holsti wrote: >> KevinSimonson wrote: >>> Ada, the programming language mandated for the military for a time, >>> was a wonderful language that didn't deserve to die. But it did, >> >> No it didn't. The Ada language has been extended and updated regularly; >> a new standard is due to appear in 2012. Several compilers are >> available, one of the best being gnat, which is a part of gcc and is >> freely available on many platforms. See libre.adacore.com and >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_(programming_language). >> >>> and now Java is alive and well >> >> Agreed. >> >>> and nobody seems to be doing anything at all with Ada. >> >> The number of people working with Ada is certainly smaller than for >> Java, but far from zero. Even the USENET group comp.lang.ada is quite >> active. > > Ada is not completely dead. > > But its usage has declined to a small fraction of what it once was. True when considering the proportion of Ada usage versus all other programming languages, because of the huge expansion in internet and web applications that rarely use Ada. But I doubt that Ada usage in absolute terms has declined so radically. It is difficult to find reliable figures on language usage, but Ada has been in the "top 20" category on the TIOBE Programming Community index for several years, with ups and downs in its rating. See http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paperinfo/tpci/index.html. Whatever the current level of usage, my main point is that Ada is *alive* in the sense that good compilers are readily available and the language is steadily evolving to provide modern features while remaining true to its original design goals. (Apologies for promoting Ada in a Java group, but I felt I had to protest against the OP's claims of deadness, even if these claims were incidental to the OP's question.) -- Niklas Holsti Tidorum Ltd niklas holsti tidorum fi . @ .