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All personal, transaction, and security rights are housed on secure NLSC servers. For example, growing standardization in the computer industry has resulted in fewer new computer architectures being introduced, particularly when compared with 20 years ago, resulting in fewer assembly languages in use.
Similarly, the rate of growth in new 3GLs has diminished since the s and has been overtaken by development of the infrastructure and culture needed to build software involving components in different programming languages.
However, the growth of 4GLs indicates a potential for a new proliferation of programming languages. For example, one study lists languages out of a total of currently active languages that meet one definition of a 4GL, i.
Hook et al. Thus, it appears that DOD will continue to operate in a "polylingual" world. DOD policy states that Ada is to be the "single, common, computer programming language for Defense computer resources used in intelligence systems, for the command and control of military forces, or as an integral part of a weapon system" DOD, a. The policy allows for the use of other, previously authorized languages in deployment and maintenance, but not for redesign or addition of more than one-third of the software.
Ada is to be used "for all other applications, except when the use of another approved higher order language [HOL] is more cost-effective over the application's life-cycle. Exceptions are allowed only by the granting of a waiver, which requires that the alternative language be more cost-effective and that it be chosen from the list of DOD-approved languages.
Neither Ada use nor a waiver is required for COTS or contractor-maintained software developments or for vendor-provided updates. Requests for waivers to develop systems in different languages are handled at a very high management level-the offices of the Assistant Secretary C 3 I or the Service Acquisition Executives—and are reviewed independently from the requesting program's other key decision milestones such as the Defense Acquisition Board and Major Automated Information Systems Review Council.
In practice, such waivers have rarely been requested. The committee was informed that 31 waivers had been granted since across the services 3 by the Army, and 14 each by the Navy and the Air Force. Because most requests for a waiver have been granted, this relatively small number of approved waivers suggests that only a very small percentage of the many projects that did not use Ada actually submitted a waiver request. Based on briefings and testimony to the committee and the information discussed above, the committee concluded the following about the implementation and some of the effects of the Ada waiver policy:.
In organizations with a high level of understanding of software, similar waiver processes can work reasonably well. Waivers are requested by developers where they make sense; waivers are granted by managers where they make sense; and the developers and managers know enough about software to reconcile differences of opinion on what makes sense.
One of the recurring themes in successful DOD projects using Ada was that Ada was selected for appropriate technical and economic reasons. However, selection of Ada solely to satisfy DOD's overall policy on programming languages has not been a guarantee of project success. Custodians of mandates on software use who do not possess sufficient knowledge of software tend to rely too much on narrow interpretation of the mandates, and DOD historically has not had a high level of software expertise.
The Defense Science Board found in that DOD lacked adequate career paths for software professionals and had long ignored its software personnel problems DOD, b.
Testimony heard by this committee indicated that although the level of software training has increased, such problems persist. For example, cutbacks in several DOD organizations in the early s appear to have caused numerous software experts to leave DOD for industry. The approach that the Defense Science Board recommended was, "Do not believe DOD can solve its skilled personnel shortage; plan how best to live with it, and how to ameliorate it.
Another recurring issue and ambiguity in current DOD policy on programming languages is that it reflects a system-level view of software that does not consider subsystems independently. For example, for a project with three subsystems-- 1 an operational flight program all new software , 2 a simulator based on an existing simulator written in C , and 3 a ground-based test capability combining new and legacy components in multiple languages --current DOD policy encourages project managers to either write all subsystems in Ada or apply for a waiver for all subsystems.
This approach leads to a simplistic choice between two options, neither of which is optimal. A clear, more flexible policy is needed that allows project managers to optimize programming language use at the subsystem and component level, without incurring a penalty of additional administrative overhead for the division into components.
To be effective, DOD's policy requiring the use of Ada must include positive incentives for doing so, and it must be implemented closer to the project level within DOD. The current policy fails on both accounts. It has often had negative effects on DOD software engineering processes, in particular because DOD's policy on waivers for use of alternative programming languages has been implemented unevenly by DOD staff who lack the necessary technical knowledge, understanding of the relevant details of system design, or the motivation to consider long-term and service-wide objectives.
Many DOD personnel testified to the committee that waivers are perceived as difficult to defend even though. This perception frequently has led to manipulation, bypassing, or simply ignoring of the waiver process.
Narrow interpretation of the policy has led to a number of poor decisions to use Ada, even when other solutions offered significant improvements in capability. For example, certain graphical user interface development tools have frequently not been used simply because they did not generate Ada or were not written in Ada.
DOD weapon systems programs and commercial organizations both understand that significant post-development investments are needed to keep software systems functioning effectively. For example, Citibank spends 80 percent of its software budget on sustaining and enhancing existing code.
It is reasonable to assume that Ada 95 will also require ongoing investment. The committee does not believe that Ada 95 is an exception to the general rule that software requires continuing investment to remain effective; briefings from DISA indicated that it has made an assumption to the effect that "the language exists and is mature," meaning that the commercial sector will provide support.
The committee disagrees with this assessment. The barriers to commercial adoption of Ada discussed above in this chapter are a significant concern, because without support and promotion by critical customers such as DOD and the commercial safety-critical community, there is a serious danger that the Ada tool and compiler industry will shrink to the point that it can no longer provide widespread support to warfighting systems. This will ultimately increase DOD's costs, because it will have to take over full maintenance and development for Ada tools.
DOD may also have to use programming languages that will result in more costly development and maintenance for its mission-critical systems.
In addition to increased cost, any decrease in quality or increase in schedule could threaten DOD's warfighting adaptability and readiness. DOD remains the key customer for Ada technology. Although Ada 83 is being used outside DOD for the development of critical applications, the Ada tool and compiler market remains dependent on robust support from DOD.
Even the perception of DOD pulling away from its support for Ada could dramatically affect Ada vendors, at a time when the industry is in the process of assimilating Ada Uncertainty over DOD's programming language policy and investment strategy is already affecting the ability to find capital to invest in Ada-related development. The most critical impact of not sustaining Ada is the consequent reduction in support for DOD's 50 million existing lines of Ada mission-critical software.
Mission-critical programs relying on Ada code will be forced to choose between spending time and money to keep their Ada support current and spending even greater resources to convert their software to another language. Tables 1. The change in context is sufficient to warrant a restructuring of DOD's policy and strategy for Ada. Virtually no chance for Ada to achieve a commercial lead, except in niche areas.
The discussion above indicates that there are serious problems with DOD's current policy regarding Ada, including the lack of guidance provided to DOD personnel and contractors for use of Ada, uneven implementation of the waiver process, and unrealistic investment strategies. In the course of responding to its charge to recommend ways for improving DOD software policies and strategies regarding Ada, the committee identified several critical questions; they are summarized below and addressed in the remainder of this report.
Ada 83 investments were likely much greater but are difficult to quantify. If all programming activities are included i. Other significant 3GLs were Cobol 11 percent and Java 4 percent. The industry groups surveyed were automobile services, financial services, medical devices, and industrial machinery. Exceptions to this generalization include Cobol, which was never a popular language in academia but is used widely in business and defense applications, and Pascal, which was popular for many years in universities but not in industry.
The committee included representatives of two firms that sell Ada products: Rational and Intermetrics. Is designed for Americans between the ages of Participants in the CBYX young professionals program spend two months in German language training, a semester in a German college, and the remainder of their exchange year getting practical work experience in the German context. Provides merit-based scholarship programs for eligible high school students to spend an academic year attending a German school while living with a host family after a one-month intensive language course.
The program is designed to strengthen ties between youth, improve their career skills through formal German language study and experience, and expand their perspectives and awareness of each other's culture, society, history, and politics. Provides merit-based scholarship programs for eligible graduating high school students to spend a year in Germany living with a host family.
Provides U. The CLS Program is equivalent to approximately a full academic year of language study.
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