Designing with Ada for satellite simulation: A case study

Abstract

A FORTRAN-operated and an Ada-oriented design for the same system are compared to learn whether an essentially different design was produced using Ada. The designs were produced by an experiment that involves the parallel development of software for a spacecraft dynamics simulator. Design differences are identified in the use of abstractions, system structure, and simulator operations. Although the designs were significantly different, this result may be influenced by some special characteristics discussed.