On Friday, June 19, 2026 at 8:53, Bill Gunshannon via cctalk wrote:
> Well, maybe my memory is getting flawed (it was 25 years ago and I am
> 75 now) but we started using GNAT right from the very beginning at the
> University I worked at.
My first exposure was with GNAT 3.04 from June 1996. I've been using later
versions off-and-on ever since. No version that I've used has generated C
code. Indeed, I'm not sure how the "GNU" part of the "GNU NYU Ada
Translator" would fit in. What part of gcc generates C code for a front
end?
> One of our professors was a friend of Dewar.
Dewar and Schonberg were, of course, colleagues on the GNAT project, which
was targeted specifically at Ada 95 (then Ada 9X) and intended as a free
compiler.
> I distinctly remember working with C output. Unless there was another
> Ada compiler at the time.
The CLA FAQ, which was written at the time of the Ada 95 revision, lists
some two dozen companies offering Ada compilers. Ada 83 pre-dates that and
undoubtedly had a number of commercial compiler vendors, given the US DOD
Ada mandate.
> I will have to try and go back thru my massive repository and check it
> out again.
I don't think you're wrong regarding an early Ada compiler that generated C
code. I seem to recall such a beast too, although I can't lay my hands on
a reference.
-- Dave
