LISP TO ADA TRANSLATOR - A TOOL FOR TRANSLATING LISP APPLICATIONS INTO CLEAN READABLE EFFICIENT ADA APPLICATIONS

THIS PROPOSAL'S RESEARCH HOPES TO APPLY SEVERAL OF CHESTNUT SOFTWARE'S PROPRIETARY TRANSLATION TECHNIQUES TO THE PROBLEM OF LISP TO ADA TRANSLATION. LISP IS OFTEN THE DESIRED DEVELOPMENT LANGUAGE FOR COMPLEX PROGRAMMING PROBLEMS. IT IS A FEATURE-RICH LANGUAGE WHICH ALLOWS PROGRAMMERS TO SOLVE DIFFICULT AND COMPLEX PROBLEMS IN THE SHORTEST PERIOD OF TIME. HOWEVER, THESE VERY FEATURES MAKE IT A DIFFICULT LANGUAGE FOR DEPLOYMENT. CHESTNUT HAS ADDRESSED THE PROBLEM OF TRANSLATION OF HIGH-LEVEL PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES WHEN IT DEVELOPED ITS OWN LISP TO C TRANSLATOR. WE NOW HOPE TO PROVE THAT MANY OF THE TECHNIQUES WE HAVE PIONEERED CAN BE APPLIED TO PRODUCING A LISP TO ADA TRANSLATOR. WE WILL EXPLORE HOW MANY OF THE UNIQUE FEATURES OF LISP APPLICATIONS COULD BE REPRESENTED IN ADA. THE GOAL IS TO PRODUCE A TOOL WHICH WOULD TAKE A LISP APPLICATION AND TRANSLATE IT INTO A CLEAN, READABLE, EFFICIENT, SYNTACTICALLY CORRECT ADA APPLICATION. PHASE I WILL HOPE TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROJECT AND LAY FOUNDATION FOR PHASE II. PHASE II WILL RESULT IN A PROTOTYPE OF A SYSTEM WHICH WILL TRANSLATE LISP INTO ADA. A LISP TO ADA TRANSLATOR WOULD PROVIDE DARPA WITH THE OPPORTUNITY TO DEPLOY OR EMBED EXISTING LISP APPLICATIONS INTO ANY CURRENT OR FUTURE ADA SYSTEM. IT WILL ALSO PRESENT THE AGENCY WITH THE OPPORTUNITY OF DEVELOPING FUTURE APPLICATIONS IN ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENTS (LISP), WHILE DEPLOYING THEM IN THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE STANDARD, ADA.