PROPOSAL FOR A NEW WORK ITEM

Date of presentation of proposal:
1998-07-07
Proposer:
JTC1/SC22
Secretariat:
ANSI
ISO/IEC JTC 1 N XXXX

A proposal for a new work item shall be submitted to the secretariat of the ISO/IEC joint technical committee concerned with a copy to the ISO Central Secretariat.

Presentation of the proposal - to be completed by the proposer Guidelines for proposing and justifying a new work item are given in ISO Guide 26.

Title:
Information Technology - Programming Languages - Ada: Conformity Assessment
Scope:
This international standard would provide requirements for assessing the conformity of Ada language processors to the language specifications of ISO/IEC 8652. The target audience would be vendors of language processors as well as purchasers of the processors.
Purpose and justification: The Ada community has a strong de facto tradition of rigorous "compiler validation". ("Compiler validation" may be regarded as synonymous with "conformity assessment of a language processor.") Commercially available compilers must successfully execute a test suite of thousands of tests before obtaining a "validation certificate." The validation certificate is essential to the marketability of a compiler because it ensures that one is able to write platform-independent programs that may be compiled on a variety of compilers to execute on a variety of platforms. To date, the compiler validation program has been performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Defense, utilizing validation facilities in the U.S., the U.K., and Germany. The U.S. government now desires to leave this activity to private enterprise. The purpose of the proposed standard is to substitute the authority of ISO/IEC JTC1 for the authority of the U.S. DoD while retaining much of the current de facto validation process.
Programme of work:
If the proposed new work item is approved, which of the following document(s) is (are) expected to be developed?
_X_ a single International Standard more than one International Standard (expected number: ........ )
____ a multi-part International Standard consisting of .......... parts
____ an amendment or amendments to the following International Standard(s) ....................................
____ a technical report , type ...........
Relevant documents to be considered: The current validation procedures utilized by the current "Ada Validation Facilities". It is anticipated that the U.S. national body will contribute these documents.
Cooperation and liaison:
No formal liaison is anticipated. Informal liaison will be maintained with the various parties in the current de facto process.
Preparatory work offered with target date(s):
An initial working draft will be made available at the plenary meeting of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22 in August 1998.

WD 1998-10 CD 1999-03 FCD 1999-06 FDIS 1999-12
Signature:
James W. Moore, Convener, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC22/WG9
Will the service of a maintenance agency or registration authority be required? NO

- If yes, have you identified a potential candidate? ................
- If yes, indicate name .............................................................

Are there any known requirements for coding? NO
-If yes, please specify on a separate page

Does the proposed standard concern known patented items? NO
- If yes, please provide full information in an annex

Comments and recommendations of the JTC 1 Secretariat - attach a separate page as an annex, if necessary

Comments with respect to the proposal in general, and recommendations thereon:
It is proposed to assign this new item to JTC 1/SC 22/WG9

Voting on the proposal - Each P-member of the ISO/IEC joint technical committee has an obligation to vote within the time limits laid down (normally three months after the date of circulation).

Date of circulation:
YYYY-MM-DD
Closing date for voting:
YYY-MM-DD
Signature of JTC 1 Secretary:
Lisa A. Rajchel


NEW WORK ITEM PROPOSAL - PROJECT ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA   
Criterion Validity: Explanation:
A Business Requirement   
A.1 Market Requirement Essential: X
Desirable:
Supportive:
See above justification
A.2 Regulatory Context Essential:
Desirable:
Supportive: X
Not Relevant:
 The use of a conforming compiler is often a condition of a government acquisition, including acquisitions performed in a regulatory context.
B. Related Work   
B.1 Completion/Maintenance of current standards Yes: X
No:
 The work is related to the continued maintenance of the language specification, ISO/IEC 8652.
B.2 Commitment to other organization Yes:

No: X

 But informal liaison will be maintained with the participants in the current de facto process.
B.3 Other Source of standards Yes: X
No:
See above for sources of de facto documents.
C. Technical Status   
C.1 Mature Technology Yes: X
No
This is a standardization of existing practice.
C.2 Prospective Technology Yes: N/A
No:
 
C.3 Models/Tools Yes: N/A
No:
 
D. Conformity Assessment and Interoperability   
D.1 Conformity Assessment Yes: X
No:
 
D.2 Interoperability Yes: X
No:
 The work supports "portability" of source programs among various platforms.
E. Other Justification   

It is expected that, at least, the following national bodies will actively support this effort: Canada, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, United States.