Accession Number:

ADA183665

Title:

Use of Ada (trademark) for FAA's Advanced Automation System (AAS),

Descriptive Note:

Corporate Author:

MITRE CORP MCLEAN VA CIVIL SYSTEMS DIV

Personal Author(s):

• Basili, Victor R.
• Boehm, Barry W.
• Clapp, Judith A.
• Gaumer, Dale
• Holden, Maretta

Report Date:

1987-04-01

Pagination or Media Count:

82.0

Abstract:

The Federal Aviation Administration FAA asked MITRE to organize and participate in a study on the use of Ada for Advanced Automation System AAS procurement. A team of MITRE and non-MITRE software experts was assembled to address the following First, if Ada is selected for AAS, how can the FAA judge the ability of a contractor to build AAS in Ada Second, if Ada is used, how should the FAA change its contract monitoring procedures to best manage the project The study participants concluded that the size and complexity of AAS make software engineering, and not the programming language, the key issue. Moreover, if properly used, Ada facilitates good software engineering practices and a sound software development process. Therefore, the participants unanimously recommended Ada with appropriate waivers for the use of non-Ada code where necessary as the appropriate choice for AAS. However, there are several qualifications to this recommendation. The FAA must use a modified software development approach to take advantage of what Ada has to offer. In addition, risk reduction activities must be carried out to address the risks associated with Ada. These qualifications, and others, are documented in this report. Keywords air traffic control. Author

Descriptors:

• *SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
• *HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGES
• AUTOMATION
• CONTRACTS
• MONITORING
• REDUCTION
• RISK
• COMPUTER PROGRAMS
• SYSTEMS ENGINEERING
• AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS

Subject Categories:

• Computer Programming and Software

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE