Implementing internal program representations with Ada and Ada 9X

ABSTRACT

In an earlier paper, the author discussed the use of Ada to implement the internal program representation for an Ada software re-engineering system. While many of Ada's features were used to advantage in the implementation, the lack of an inheritance mechanism and an expressive subtyping system make the implementation unnecessarily cumbersome and insecure.Had Ada 9X been available at the time, we could have achieved a simpler, more readable, and more secure design; furthermore, the implementation (most likely) would have been more efficient.Contrasting the Ada and Ada 9X implementations leads naturally to some observations on how one could build tools to convert Ada legacy code to Ada 9X.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications

          Nouns: Ada

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.3 Language Constructs and Features
          Subjects: Abstract data types

  F. Theory of Computation
  F.3 LOGICS AND MEANINGS OF PROGRAMS
      F.3.3 Studies of Program Constructs
          Subjects: Type structure

General Terms:
Algorithms, Languages