Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[SaraL]

Hi!

Brainbench is a provider of high-quality, secure, online, certification
tests using computer adaptive testing (CAT).  We provide skill-based
tests that measure a person's core knowledge in a specific field. I
have currently put an Ada95 certification test into our Beta phase.

We are in great need of Ada95 experts to take this version of our test
so we can gain valuable qualititative as well as quantitative feedback
on our test items.  The test will not take long, and it could be a fun
way to challenge yourself and your Ada95 friends to a contest to see
who knows more!  Please help by taking our test.  To do so:

you can go directly to the brainbench beta page by clicking:
http://www.brainbench.com/xml/bb/common/testcenter/betatests.xml

or by navigating from www.brainbench.com to the beta test page. Ada95
is the first test on the list.

We appreciate your effort to help us make our Ada95 certification test
the best it can possibly be!

Thanks!
The Brainbench Team

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Anonymous Coward]

On 2006-02-21, SaraL <sara.lambert@brainbench.com> wrote:
> Hi!
>
> We appreciate your effort to help us make our Ada95 certification
> test the best it can possibly be!

Any chance you'll remove the registration form requiring names and
addresses so beta testers won't be deterred?

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[jimmaureenrogers]

SaraL wrote:
> We appreciate your effort to help us make our Ada95 certification test
> the best it can possibly be!

This test looks like an Ada translation of a test for some other
language.

Many of the questions reveal a distinctly non-Ada approach to
programming.

For instance, the question about how to make a global variable.
Globals provide an amazing opportunity for coupling and side effects,
both of which are contrary to the spirit of Ada.

The indentation style of the code examples is difficult to read.
The variable names for the examples are normally single character.

Terminology used in the test is odd.

There is a heavy emphasis on examples with discriminant types.

The headings for questions are not well matched with the content
of the questions. This is unnecessarily misleading.

Many negative questions, such as "which answer is not true" are
asked. Negative logic is always less direct than positive logic.

The questions cover very little of the Ada language, while
concentrating
on areas including discriminants and nesting.

The questions about visibility do not adequately cover the Ada concepts
of scope and visibility. They also demonstrate coding styles that would
fail any decent code review.

The questions about pass by value or pass by reference are only
truly appropriate for compiler developers. Ada programmers do not
spend time fretting over the passing mechanism of procedure
parameters.

While there was one question dealing with protected types and tasks
it dealt only with priority issues. Protected types deserve a much more
in-depth treatment, including entries, procedures, functions, and
re-queuing.

There was no question about the select command, Ada rendezvous, or
asynchronous transfer of control.

There were no questions about the use of floating point numbers.
One question implied that fixed point numbers are superiour to
floating point numbers. That is clearly false. Each has its own proper
use.

There were no questions concerning subtypes.

One example of types was clearly syntactically wrong, which
invalidated the entire question. It has language similar to the
following:

type T is private;

type B is T;

Ada syntax requires the declaration of B to be either:

subtype B is T;

or

type B is new T;

One question dealt with interfacing a C function to Ada.
It requires knowledge of C and Ada, which is not appropriate
for an Ada test. Furthermore, none of the multiple choice
answers is correct. The C function requires an array of char.
Most likely that is a C string, which is null terminated, while
corresponding Ada strings are not. The example makes no
use of Interfaces.C.Strings.

I suggest that you hire an experienced Ada programmer to
develop the test. The person who developed the test does not
understand Ada well enough. The test should not be some
clone of a C++ or Java test.

Jim Rogers

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[SaraL]

We are currently working on this.  I realize it makes people quit the
process and have requested that a change be made so that participants
can go directly to the beta test.  I apologize for the inconvenience.
The process is actually much quicker than you think though, please
still give it a shot!  Thanks!

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Randy Brukardt]

<jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:1140578611.155506.80290@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
...
> I suggest that you hire an experienced Ada programmer to
> develop the test. The person who developed the test does not
> understand Ada well enough. The test should not be some
> clone of a C++ or Java test.

They posted here for such a person. The problem was that they weren't
willing to pay the real price of such talent. If you pay only peanuts,
you're only going to get inexperienced amateurs...

(I considered taking on such work, but essentially the wanted it done for
free. If I'm going to work for free, I'll work on something fun...)

                  Randy.

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Stephen Leake]

"SaraL" <sara.lambert@brainbench.com> writes:

> We are currently working on this.  I realize it makes people quit the
> process and have requested that a change be made so that participants
> can go directly to the beta test.  I apologize for the inconvenience.

Hmm. I wouldn't give much weight to a person who is unwilling to give
a name.

It would help if you added a clearer 'opt-out' feature to your privacy
policy, perhaps specially for beta testers, so you promise not to send
me _anything_ not related to the beta test if I give you my email.

> The process is actually much quicker than you think though, please
> still give it a shot! 

For me, the issue is not speed, but privacy and spam.

It might help if you offered some actual benefit to beta testers.
Maybe a free rating on one of your other tests.

I started taking the test. I found it very frustrating that the test
did not tell me what you thought the correct answer to each question
is. Maybe you will at the end, but I'd rather put in comments on the
right answer along the way.

I stopped after 10 questions, because it's getting late; I'll do more
tomorrow. 

It's very easy to "cheat" by running each code sample thru a real
compiler for each question. I don't see how to avoid that short of
requiring physical presence at a proctored exam. Hmm. Perhaps you
could present the code as an image (.png), so it could not be copied.
Somebody will then use optical character recognition on it, but most
people won't.

Some of the questions are good, some are way to hard for anyone but
language lawyers.

-- 
-- Stephe

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Stephen Leake]

"jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net" <jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net> writes:

> <snip comments>
>
> One question dealt with interfacing a C function to Ada.
> It requires knowledge of C and Ada, which is not appropriate
> for an Ada test. 

This I disagree with. Many libraries are only available in C,
as are most operating systems. Ada is very good at interfacing with C,
so it is appropriate that the topic be covered in some way.

> Furthermore, none of the multiple choice answers is correct. The C
> function requires an array of char. Most likely that is a C string,
> which is null terminated, while corresponding Ada strings are not.
> The example makes no use of Interfaces.C.Strings.

Hmm. You must have taken a different test than I did; the C interface
question I saw was about link names. it was also slightly wrong.

> I suggest that you hire an experienced Ada programmer to
> develop the test. 

They tried to do that here last year. I offered to help; I don't know
who ended up writing the test.

> The person who developed the test does not understand Ada well
> enough. The test should not be some clone of a C++ or Java test.

It didn't strike me as a clone. But I should take their C++ and Java
tests first; that would provide some insight.

I hope you provided your input on the test forms.

-- 
-- Stephe

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Robert Love]

In <ubqwyx0fe.fsf@toadmail.com> Stephen Leake  wrote:
> "jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net" <jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.
> net> writes:
>
>> <snip comments>
>>
>> One question dealt with interfacing a C function to Ada.
>> It requires knowledge of C and Ada, which is not appropriate
>> for an Ada test. 
> 
> This I disagree with. Many libraries are only available in C,
> as are most operating systems. Ada is very good at interfacing with C,
> so it is appropriate that the topic be covered in some way.
> 

That's true but how man Ada textbooks cover linking with C. I wish ALL 
Ada books had a chapter on linking with foreign languages, with plenty 
of examples.

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <20060223202559946-0600@news.airmail.net>, Robert Love <rblove@airmail.net> writes:
> In <ubqwyx0fe.fsf@toadmail.com> Stephen Leake  wrote:

>> This I disagree with. Many libraries are only available in C,
>> as are most operating systems. Ada is very good at interfacing with C,
>> so it is appropriate that the topic be covered in some way.
>> 
> 
> That's true but how man Ada textbooks cover linking with C. I wish ALL 
> Ada books had a chapter on linking with foreign languages, with plenty 
> of examples.

Linking is specific to operating systems, and thus not suitable for
most Ada books.

Re: Ada95 skills test - Beta version(FREE)

[Robert Love]

In <5NeCDMAkzSu1@eisner.encompasserve.org> Larry Kilgallen wrote:
> In article <20060223202559946-0600@news.airmail.net>, Robert Love 
> <rblove@airmail.net> writes:
>> In <ubqwyx0fe.fsf@toadmail.com> Stephen Leake  wrote:
> 
>>> This I disagree with. Many libraries are only available in C,
>>> as are most operating systems. Ada is very good at interfacing with 
>>> C, so it is appropriate that the topic be covered in some way. 
>> 
>> That's true but how man Ada textbooks cover linking with C. I wish 
>> ALL  Ada books had a chapter on linking with foreign languages, with 
>> plenty  of examples.
> 
> Linking is specific to operating systems, and thus not suitable for
> most Ada books.

OK, I should have said "interfacing", not linking, the point is I don't 
see many Ada textbooks that have a chapter on how to use C libraries or 
Fortran libraries with Ada code.  That's how this sub thread started.