Investigate Capability of Ada Higher Order Programming Language for Developing Machine Independent Software.

Abstract : In this investigation of the ability of Ada to support machine independent software, a library package of the elementary mathematical functions (sin, cos, en, etc.) was implemented and tested on the Ada/ED Compiler Version 11/4. The Ada language constructs proved quite useful and effective in creating the math function package. The programs were written and successfully syntax checked; however, flaws in this version of the compiler prevented a thorough debugging of these routines. The routines were designed to be machine and accuracy independent. Accuracy independence was obtained using variable length polynomials whose coefficients are computed (at compile time) from Chebyshev series. For increased efficiency, the normally machine dependent operations (bit picking) are isolated into subroutines that can be optimized for individual installations and hardware. (Author)