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From: Duke Normandin on 24 May 2010 15:34 On 2010-05-24, Luis Espinal <Luis_member(a)newsguy.com> wrote: > In article <7GwJn.4712$z%6.3258(a)edtnps83>, Duke Normandin says... >> >>Thanks for the URLs! I visited >>http://distrinet.cs.kuleuven.be/events/AdaEvent/abstracts.html#researchada >> >>To begin with. Looks like I should be learning SPARK? or should I start with >>Ada, _then_ graduate to SPARK? > > > I think you should learn either (SPARK or Ada), or maybe both (probably this is > what you should do). In that case, I'd go with Ada first. > > I took an Ada class on my 3rd year at university, and from then one, it was my > tool of choice (along with C++). I graduated, looked for Ada jobs, and could not > find much. I went to grad school all the while still looking for Ada jobs. > Eventually I settle to work with C++, and then with Java. > > I've been programming in Java for 11 years - 15 if I count the playing-around I > did with it since it came up in 95. And now, finally I might be able to get a > chance to work in C/C++. > > Still, every once in a while I search for Ada jobs. I keep seeing an opening for > a Sr. Ada programmer to assist in a conversion to C++. Plus I keep seeing that > people require X amount of years on Ada or C++ when hiring, so it is a > chicken-n-egg kind of thing. > > Putting all that lamentation aside, and the fact that I've never worked with it, > I'd say that it is the most influential language I've had (with the Pascal > family of languages.) > > Ever since I learned it, all other languages have felt a bit lacking when it > comes to develop software that is both 1) efficient and 2) looks and reads > correct. I think I'm a good software developer and engineer, and I honestly > don't think my skills would be as good as I think they are if it weren't because > of Ada. > > Learning Ada is how I learned how to program correctly. This is strictly > anecdotal and personal, so take it with a grain of salt. But my suggestion will > be to learn Ada for the sake of it in the hope it will improve your skills and > craft, however good they are now. > > If you happen to land a job in Ada, that will be an added bonus. Learning the > language and solving non-trivial problems with them, that's all the > justification one should need IMO. > > Good luck. > > - Luis Espinal. > Thank you Luis, for your insights. I can't help but feel sad and irritated that a language as useful as Ada has been characterized to be, by you and others, should not be more widely appreciated and used. I'm glad that I don't _have to_ program for a living. I do it because I enjoy it - got the bug in 1980. ;) BTW, do you know what language Ada is written in? I'd guess C and asm. -- Duke *** Tolerance becomes a crime, when applied to evil [Thomas Mann] ***
From: Jeffrey R. Carter on 24 May 2010 15:56 Bryan wrote: > > C++ has kept me employed and working on interesting projects. :) New Chinese proverb? "May you work on interesting projects." -- Jeff Carter "You can never forget too much about C++." 115
From: Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57) on 24 May 2010 16:04 Le Mon, 24 May 2010 21:34:24 +0200, Duke Normandin <dukeofperl(a)ml1.net> a écrit: > bug in 1980. ;) BTW, do you know what language Ada is written in? I'd > guess > C and asm. Ada could not be written in C or asm, it is written in plain English. It was not translated because there are some much pages in the reference that every one ws afraid (just think about translating it into french...) I stop to play the fool now :p Ada compilers, could be written in C or asm ;) But Ada compilers are mostly written in ... Ada, of course. Just look at GNAT sources (big) to have an idea. There may be some tiny C stuff in GNAT Ada implementation or a bit of assembly in Janus Ada implementation, however, all are mostly written in Ada. -- There is even better than a pragma Assert: a SPARK --# check.
From: John B. Matthews on 24 May 2010 16:25 In article <op.vc77ejooxmjfy8(a)garhos>, Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57) <yannick_duchene(a)yahoo.fr> wrote: > Le Mon, 24 May 2010 21:34:24 +0200, Duke Normandin <dukeofperl(a)ml1.net> a > écrit: > > BTW, do you know what language Ada is written in? I'd guess C and > > asm. > [...] > Ada compilers, could be written in C or asm ;) But Ada compilers are > mostly written in ... Ada, of course. Just look at GNAT sources (big) to > have an idea. Good reading! :-) <http://gcc.gnu.org/viewcvs/trunk/gcc/ada/> [...] -- John B. Matthews trashgod at gmail dot com <http://sites.google.com/site/drjohnbmatthews>
From: Jeffrey R. Carter on 24 May 2010 18:21
Yannick Duch�ne (Hibou57) wrote: > > Ada compilers, could be written in C or asm ;) But Ada compilers are > mostly written in ... Ada, of course. Just look at GNAT sources (big) to > have an idea. There may be some tiny C stuff in GNAT Ada implementation > or a bit of assembly in Janus Ada implementation, however, all are > mostly written in Ada. The Verdix compiler was started in C and later changed to Ada. This is where the comparison in http://www.adaic.org/whyada/ada-vs-c/cada_art.html comes from, one of the few hard data points in language comparisons. -- Jeff Carter "You can never forget too much about C++." 115 |