Object-Based Computing and the Ada Programming Language

Development in several areas of computer science and engineering have coalesced during the past several years into a systems design methodology known as object-based computing. The primary benefit of this methodology is that it raises the level of abstraction available in the design process. Ada provides good support for both data and program abstraction. However, in an effort to allow Ada to be used efficiently on existing machine with conventional architectures, the language has been designed to require little dynamic checking. This effect is most noticeable in the limited support provided for protection domains and the lack of a unified abstraction mechanism that would include features such as package types. However, these features are usually not required in the application area for which Ada was primarily targeted--embedded systems. Within it intended application area, the Ada language is suitable for object-based computing on conventional architectures.