Public opinion is a matter of very considerable importance in such questions, and Ada simply doesn’t have it there, while Rust does. So no, I would not consider Ada “a serious contender to C++’s throne”, regardless of technical comparisons with Rust and/or C++.

And yet, when you travel by train, plane, being monitored in an hospital, real time OS in factories, there is most likely Ada underneath.

If Rust wants to become a real systems programing language, it needs OS vendor support, not HN cheering.

> there is most likely Ada underneath

I have worked for quite a few real-time safety-critical systems, including one of the domains you mentioned. I have ex-colleagues who now work for other such domains. I assure you, that Ada is rarely ever seen. It's just C all the way, and usually running without an OS. I used to see job openings for Ada programmers some 15-20 years ago, but I haven't seen anyone use it in any of the firms I worked at. The only thing that seems to be changing these days is a creeping in of Matlab/Simulink-generated C code.

Ada is alive and well. http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~mfeldman/ada-project-summary.html

Kongsberg writes it's missile-guiding software in Ada. A pretty strong endorsement if you ask me.

I do in the areas where human lifes are at risk.