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A better analogy might be how Ada was hung over the heads of those using C and C++, to the point of Ada being mandated by law in certain niches.

And then Ada software caused the loss of US$370 million with Ariane 5.



> to the point of Ada being mandated by law in certain niches.

> And then Ada software caused the loss of US$370 million with Ariane 5.

This seems like a bit of a non-sequitur? Ariane is an EU rocket and the flight you're referring to was carrying an EU payload, and I don't think it was ever subject to the US DoD Ada mandate or an EU equivalent (which I'm not sure ever existed?).

(Also a bit of a nitpick, but I don't think the US DoD Ada Mandate was a law per se; it was a DoD policy and not something the US Congress passed).

It's probably somewhat disputable as to whether the Ariane failure was "due to Ada" or whether other higher-level concerns were responsible (e.g., reusing the Ariane 4 software without revalidation)




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