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From: KMays@msn.com (Kenneth Mays)
Subject: Real Life Ada
Date: 1996/08/04
Message-ID: <00001a73+000030db@msn.com>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 172008943
organization: The Microsoft Network (msn.com)
newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Date: 1996-08-04T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


Gretings,

Well I have a comment about college and learning Ada.

1.) Get an idea of who you want to work for in the future. 
Lockheed-Martin, Northrop, or Ada Technologies? get a clear picture 
of the skills required and the courses that will help you "fit" 
within that job.

2.) College is to introduce you to concepts used in the real world - 
or should I be bold enough to say theories!!! They don't always work. 
If your a scientist or engineer (or both) nothing beats taking math 
courses and physics. Many computer science people started off as 
physics majors or math majors and then switched to computers. This is 
not always the case since some of the most creative programmers are 
graphics designers or musicians. This is just something to think 
about. John Madden isn't a programmer but he sure sponsors some great 
computer football games!!

3.) About Ada, I don't believe you should take Pascal or Data 
structures using Pascal to know Ada. If you want to know Ada, then 
learn Ada - period. If you want to know C++, you don't take COBOL 
programming courses - do you? Does everyone REALLY know assembly or 
took assembly courses (I did)? Focuses your skills on the language 
you want to use in the "real world" and don't waste your time and 
money on programming languages you don't have an interest in. No one 
language is the best choice in all situations.

Question? Why in the heck do they teach Pascal or Data Structures? 
Does that make you a better programmer when you have to write in C 
??? Are they teaching MUMPS or JAVA at your college/university??? 
Even though some can say "yes", I have college catalogs of some of 
America's top colleges and RARELY do I see courses where Java is a 
choice for a college course. heck, Visual Basic isn't even an option.

I say this because the industry is using whatever it feels works. The 
point is to FOCUS on what you want to be a master at and stop asking 
what language is better than the other. Is the software from 
MicroSoft and Borland buggy becasue they didn't use Ada95 in their 
software development? Did their programmers not take the proper C++ 
programming courses in college, or they didn't take Advanced C++ 
programming so "oops" they can't write efficient code? Not enough 
math courses to think logically? Get real.

Ada is nothing more than a programming language. In the write hands, 
it can make some darn good programs that are easy to read and 
comprehend. In the wrong hands, you'd asked yourself, "what in the 
heck was this person thinking?" So its not what you use, its HOW you 
use it to complete a task. So if your going to college, make sure you 
you take those courses that will help you use your tools effectively 
in today's market - and stop reading those "Ada95 for Dummies" books.

Ken