NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
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Support for this project was provided by the Department of Defense (under contract number DASW01-96-C0028). The views, options, and findings contained in this report are those of the authors and should not be construed as an official Department of Defense position, policy, or decision, unless so designated by other official documentation.
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COMMITTEE ON THE PAST AND PRESENT CONTEXTS FOR THE USE OF ADA IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
BARRY BOEHM,
University of Southern California,
Chair
THEODORE BAKER,
Florida State University
WESLEY EMBRY,
Silicon Graphics Inc.
JOSEPH FOX,
Template Software
PAUL HILFINGER,
University of California at Berkeley
MARETTA HOLDEN,
Boeing Corporation
J. ELIOT B. MOSS,
University of Massachusetts at Amherst
WALKER ROYCE,
Rational Software Corporation
WILLIAM SCHERLIS,
Carnegie Mellon University
S. TUCKER TAFT,
Intermetrics Inc.
RAYFORD VAUGHN,
Electronic Data Systems Corporation
ANTHONY WASSERMAN,
Interactive Development Environments Inc.
Special Advisor
BARBARA LISKOV,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Staff
PAUL D. SEMENZA, Study Director
GLORIA P. BEMAH, Administrative Assistant
COMPUTER SCIENCE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS BOARD
DAVID D. CLARK,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Chair
FRANCES E. ALLEN,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
JEFF DOZIER,
University of California at Santa Barbara
SUSAN GRAHAM,
University of California at Berkeley
JAMES GRAY,
Microsoft Corporation
BARBARA GROSZ,
Harvard University
PATRICK M. HANRAHAN,
Stanford University
JUDITH HEMPEL,
Modeling Simulations Inc.
DEBORAH A. JOSEPH,
University of Wisconsin
BUTLER W. LAMPSON,
Microsoft Corporation
EDWARD D. LAZOWSKA,
University of Washington
BARBARA LISKOV,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN MAJOR,
Motorola
ROBERT L. MARTIN,
Lucent Technologies
DAVID G. MESSERSCHMITT,
University of California at Berkeley
CHARLES L. SEITZ,
Myricom Inc.
DONALD SIMBORG,
KnowMed Systems
LESLIE L. VADASZ,
Intel Corporation
MARJORY S. BLUMENTHAL, Director
HERBERT S. LIN, Senior Program Officer
PAUL D. SEMENZA, Program Officer
JERRY R. SHEEHAN, Program Officer
JEAN E. SMITH, Program Associate
JOHN M. GODFREY, Research Associate
LESLIE M. WADE, Research Assistant
GLORIA P. BEMAH, Administrative Assistant
GAIL E. PRITCHARD, Project Assistant
COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES, MATHEMATICS, AND APPLICATIONS
ROBERT J. HERMANN,
United Technologies Corporation,
Co-chair
W. CARL LINEBERGER,
University of Colorado,
Co-chair
PETER M. BANKS,
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan
LAWRENCE D. BROWN,
University of Pennsylvania
RONALD G. DOUGLAS,
Texas A&M University
JOHN E. ESTES,
University of California at Santa Barbara
L. LOUIS HEGEDUS,
Elf Atochem North America Inc.
JOHN E. HOPCROFT,
Cornell University
RHONDA J. HUGHES,
Bryn Mawr College
SHIRLEY A. JACKSON,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
KENNETH H. KELLER,
University of Minnesota
KENNETH I. KELLERMANN,
National Radio Astronomy Observatory
MARGARET G. KIVELSON,
University of California at Los Angeles
DANIEL KLEPPNER,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
JOHN KREICK,
Sanders, a Lockheed Martin Company
MARSHA I. LESTER,
University of Pennsylvania
NICHOLAS P. SAMIOS,
Brookhaven National Laboratory
L.E. SCRIVEN,
University of Minnesota
SHMUEL WINOGRAD,
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
CHARLES A. ZRAKET,
MITRE Corporation (retired)
NORMAN METZGER, Executive Director
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Preface
It is increasingly important for the Department of Defense (DOD) to implement effective information systems policies and strategies, as future battles will be decided as much in "cyberspace" as in physical space. The use of effective computer programming languages and more broadly, of software engineering technology and policy designed for optimal support of DOD requirements is key to DOD's strategy of achieving information dominance for warfighting. For the past two decades, DOD has used programming language policy as a vehicle for obtaining cost-effective, high-performance information systems. However, the process of software development has changed considerably during this period, as has the computer industry itself. These changes have altered the environment in which DOD develops and produces information systems.
It is in this context that Assistant Secretary of Defense (Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence) Emmett Paige, Jr., requested that the National Research Council's Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) review DOD's current programming language policy. Convened by CSTB, the Committee on the Past and Present Contexts for the Use of Ada in the Department of Defense was asked to:
- Review DOD's original (mid-1970s) goals and strategy for the Ada program;
- Compare and contrast the past and present environments for DOD software development; and
- Consider alternatives and propose a refined set of goals, objectives, and approaches better suited to meeting DOD's software needs in the face of ongoing technological change.
Although the committee focused on programming language issues, it also considered them in the context of software architectures, components, and life-cycle processes, consistent with the realization that successful software engineering strategy involves several elements that are at least as important as the programming language component.
Throughout its deliberations, the committee was sensitive to the fact that the issues surrounding Ada and DOD programming language policy have been the source of vigorous debate among DOD
policymakers, program managers, government contractors, and the software community at large. Thus the committee made a concerted effort to collect a variety of views, and it received numerous briefings, position papers, and analyses from representatives of government agencies, as well as the defense, aerospace, and commercial industries. The committee membership included many different organizational viewpoints and personal experiences; as it reflected the larger community, so also did it engage in vigorous debate during its own deliberations. In the process of reaching conclusions and formulating recommendations, however, the committee agreed on the importance of DOD adopting software policies that better reflect ongoing significant changes in the discipline of software engineering, while retaining the benefits of prior investment and policy decisions.
The committee also understood the desire on all sides to bring closure to a policy debate that has continued for many years. Several briefings to the committee included requests that the committee not suggest further studies on the topic. The committee found these requests compelling and has attempted to frame its recommendations so that they can be acted on directly by DOD policymakers. Thus, for example, in addition to making recommendations in the main text of the report concerning the appropriate scope of and criteria for DOD software policy, the committee found it useful to propose a revised statement of the current policy as embodied in DOD Directive 3405.1. The committee-modified form of the DOD-revised draft (May 15, 1996) of the directive is offered in Appendix A for consideration as a template for further revision. The committee was aware that DOD has been conducting an effort to revise this policy; indeed, the committee was provided copies of two different draft revisions.
In addition to the individuals and organizations who participated in committee meetings and wrote position papers for the study (listed in Appendix E), the committee would like to acknowledge the numerous anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on a draft version of this report. The committee would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Assistant Secretary Paige and his staff, including Cynthia Rand and Connie Leonard, for assisting the committee in locating individuals and materials to consult.
Finally, the committee would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board and staff. Several Board members took an active interest in the project and offered numerous suggestions that helped to strengthen the report. The CSTB staff were instrumental in organizing the committee meetings and coordinating briefings, reviews, and interactions with Board members. In particular, CSTB's administrative assistant, Gloria Bemah, provided excellent administrative support, and its director, Marjory Blumenthal, played a key role in overseeing the study on behalf of the CSTB. Susan Maurizi edited the report under a compressed schedule, and Gail Pritchard and Jean Smith of CSTB assisted in production of the final draft. Finally, Paul Semenza, the study director, worked closely with the committee in every phase of the study.