[M3devel] Is the climate right for a new promotion?

[Rodney M. Bates]

I have been thinking lately that the climate might be right for a new
attempt to promote Modula 3.  I see two major trends and a small one
that suggest this.

Fist, probably nearly once week on the average, I see new articles
that say that software developers are not prepared to utilize the now-
proliferating multi-core processors.  This actually greatly surprises
me, because I had lots of exposure, decades ago, to all the concurrent
programming stuff--threads, synchronization, scheduling, etc.  But
apparently, most programmers have been doing strictly sequential
programming, and I have to admit, I myself only use concurrent
programming techniques a minority of the time.

In Modula-3, we have a language that already has better support than
most, and certainly better than all the popular languages.  Moreover,
the implementation is out if front too, with Tony's recent thread and
GC work for multi-processors.  There are also a few articles out there
that say, in effect, it is hopeless to implement threads and
synchronization correctly as library code on top of existing C/C++.

Second, the expansion of the internet and its vulnerability to
automated attacks from anywhere in the world has greatly upped the
ante on correctness of software.  Before, it was enough if a program
handled all the realistic cases that a reasonable user would present
it with.  Now, the whole theoretical space of inputs has to be handled
with at least some level of correctness to avoid vulnerabilities.
1000-byte passwords are the standard example.

All this means the limits of testing as a means of finding the bugs
are a far greater obstacle than they once were.  This makes the time
right for another push toward static languages, which were somewhat of
a popular flop the first time.

Third, and perhaps rather more narrow, the developers of safety-
critical software are reexamining the value of testing in the light of
various close-calls, for example in airplanes.  They are starting to
look again at static methods.

We have a language which, though little-known, is already designed and
implemented and has a lot of convincing history.  It has a lot of
things that can be promoted.  Aside from good thread support and the
best safety properties around, it is much simpler than almost
anything, yet more powerful than almost anything.

A serious push would probably need the support of some large company
or organization.  But I think the climate is better than it has been
in decades, and the technical arguments are very strong.

-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Rodney M. Bates, retired assistant professor
Dept. of Computer Science, Wichita State University
Wichita, KS 67260-0083
316-978-3922
rodney.bates at wichita.edu