Experiences With Large Projects

Hello,

since 2017 I’m working on a CAE-system for schematic and PCB-design. From my background I’m not a software engineer or programmer. I’m a hardware engineer by profession. The only programming language that seemed to fit the needs for a schematic and PCB design tool was Ada. I regard such a tool as “large system” because the data model required is extremely complex. There are two worlds (or domains) that have to be described: One is the abstract form of an electronic unit, and the other is the physical appearance of a printed circuit board. Now, after 8 years, I have learned to master Ada. The initial statement, that Ada is exactly what I need for such an ambitious project, proves right. Unfortunately I can not provide a comparison with other programming languages. Difficult to learn was all the stuff related to generics. It still causes headache to me sometimes. The outcome of a project written entirely in Ada is very robust.

For those interested in the code and the project please see:

I’m looking forward to your feedback,

Mario

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