From: "Jerry van Dijk" <jvandyk AT ibm DOT net>
Subject: Re: How can I found doc' on ADA ?
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
References: <1352242317-39391912 AT netinfo DOT fr>
Organization: *JerryWare HQ*, Haarlem, Holland
Message-ID: <01bc3ee9$5c9e1fa0$7a2d5c8b@jerryware>
NNTP-Posting-Host: slip139-92-45-122.am.nl.ibm.net
Date: 1 Apr 97 22:09:20 GMT
Lines: 59
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

> I try to make a project with multitasking features, and I found a
library,
> PThreads. It's a C library with multithread features.

Yes, POSIX  Threads is a portable package for writing multi-tasking
programs.

But, is tasking what you are after or are you looking for a
time-slicing enviroment ?

> So, I'm see they are a langage, ADA, that have multitasking/object
> features...

Ada, after Ada Lovelace, the worlds first programmer (ADA stands for
the American 
Dentist Association :-) is indeed a language.
And yes, it supports tasking within the language itself. With the
latest revision (in '95)
it also became a OO language.

> Is it REALLY multitasking ?

Yes, it really does, even on DOS. Tasking has been a integral part of
Ada since the
original ('83) ANSI version.

But note again: tasking and time-slicing are different concepts. There
are also limitations
when task map to native threads on the target OS.

> Where can I found examples/tutorial ?

The best place to start looking it www.adahome.com. There is an
excellent free
Ada tutor (called Lovelace :-) available. Also you will find the
chapter on tasking from
Mike Feldman's Ada95 book online.

As an alternative you can download the EZ2LOAD package (www.gnat.com)
which includes the
compiler, two IDE's, on-line help, two tutors, supporting packages, etc
for the DOS enviroment.
Based on DJGPP, of course :-)

> What is the GNAT, and how does it work ?

GNAT is the Ada front-end for the gcc system (like c, c++, fortran,
pascal, ...) that
has been build by a team at New York University, donated to the FSF and
currently
maintained by ACT (Ada Core Technologies).
Despite being FSF software, GNAT is currently the most complete and one
of the
best Ada compilers available, adopted by companies like SGI and DEC.

A good place to ask Ada questions is of course comp.lang.ada.

Jerry.