From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Received: by 2002:aed:2450:: with SMTP id s16mr6083893qtc.345.1587677596452; Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:33:16 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 2002:a9d:b85:: with SMTP id 5mr5166998oth.81.1587677596191; Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:33:16 -0700 (PDT) Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!news.linkpendium.com!news.linkpendium.com!news.snarked.org!border2.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!news-out.google.com!nntp.google.com!postnews.google.com!google-groups.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:33:15 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <877dy5j4h7.fsf@nightsong.com> Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: google-groups.googlegroups.com; posting-host=47.185.215.60; posting-account=zwxLlwoAAAChLBU7oraRzNDnqQYkYbpo NNTP-Posting-Host: 47.185.215.60 References: <87muca3vgd.fsf@nightsong.com> <57d49047-0a61-4d13-8822-d004732a3acc@googlegroups.com> <007895f7-b923-4267-9801-d0caaaa30838@googlegroups.com> <41ef6a77-3b14-43ff-b6ae-510000a33ad4@googlegroups.com> <877dy5j4h7.fsf@nightsong.com> User-Agent: G2/1.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: <104195c8-c162-4d0c-a600-d2a2d233bf03@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: Beginning Ada Programming, by Andrew T. Shvets (2020) From: Optikos Injection-Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2020 21:33:16 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Xref: reader01.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:58480 Date: 2020-04-23T14:33:15-07:00 List-Id: On Thursday, April 23, 2020 at 4:07:34 PM UTC-5, Paul Rubin wrote: > Andrew Shvets writes: > > Ada has an amazing type system and it can do great things. But it=E2= =80=99s a > > complex topic and I want to introduce it in a different way than is > > usually found in most books. >=20 > I think these days (and maybe always), Ada is not a great choice of > first language for programmers. Its strength is in its special > characteristics that are things that beginners would usually not use. > So imho, it doesn't seem all that worthwhile to start an Ada book with > beginner-level topics. >=20 > The popular beginner language these days is Python. I use Python a lot > myself, though I have become somewhat disillusioned with it. There are 2 different definitions of beginner: 1) Someone who is a beginner at programming in any imperative programming l= anguage. versus 2) Someone who is versed to an adequate degree of proficiency in another im= perative programming language and who is now learning Ada as a 2nd =E2=80= =A6 Nth imperative programming language added to their repertoire. There is quite a need for category #2 to compare similarities and contrast = differences to the reader's prior knowledge. Conversely, category #1's tim= e has unfortunately passed is by in 2 phases: a) the Green-Ada80-Ada83 fervor build-up to the mid- to late-1980s where so= me DoD-centric universities taught the preponderance of their undergraduate= programming curriculum via the Ada83 interpreter; and b) the Ada9X-Ada95 fervor build-up to the early- to mid-1990s where a far g= reater quantity of universities taught the preponderance of their undergrad= uate programming curriculum via GNAT, prior to the Java juggernaut displaci= ng Ada in the universities. Only some future popularity of Ada in industrial practice or in open-source= would drive a 3rd wave of Ada being taught at the freshman or sophomore le= vels of very many universities again.