Re: Suggestions for topics in an Ada course?

[John McCormick <mccormick@cs.uni.edu>]

Hello Peter,

I have been teaching Ada to students with C/C++/Java backgrounds for
two decades. I have gotten many of these students hooked on Ada.
Those students who have a strong dislike for software engineering
principles are the least likely to appreciate Ada.

I have some of my current course work on my web site

CS 810:059   Our CS1 course (no programming background assumed)
http://cns2.uni.edu/~mccormic/059

CS 810:063   A traditional data structures course for people with two
semesters of OO programming in C++/Java under their belt
http://cns2.uni.edu/~mccormic/063/

CS 810:188   A special topics course on concurrent programming with
Ada
http://cns2.uni.edu/~mccormic/188/


If they have enough programming skills, I would suggest you teach them
concurrent programming in Ada.  Burns and Wellings have a new book out
that I plan to use this Spring - Concurrent and Real-Time Programming
in Ada, Cambridge University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-521-86697-2.  I
suggest that you avoid GUI or graphics programming.  The Ada tools are
simply not up to what they have seen in C++ and Java.  This
observation is supported by a keynote speaker I heard at the SIGAda
conference last week.  He said that the new en-route air traffice
control software now being installed is about 50% Ada and 50% C++.
The C++ is for the intense graphics needed by a controller.  The Ada
is for the parts that can't fail.

I'd be happy to discuss any of my work with you on or off the
newsgroup.

John

> >I have the luxury of teaching a course next semester that can be about
> >anything I want. It's a course on "special topics" and the content is at
> >the discretion of the instructor.
>
> >I would like to teach the students some Ada.
>
> >The students in question are already competent programmers (in the
> >college student sense, that is). They have taken two courses in C/C++
> >and so should be familiar with basic programming concepts, including
> >concepts like encapsulation, (operator) overloading, and inheritance.
> >The programs they have worked on so far have been typical programming
> >exercises given in first courses: nothing large or complicated.
>
> >The course I'll be teaching has two hours of lecture per week plus a
> >three hour "lab" period where the students can work on some sort of
> >project or assignment in a supervised setting. So there is a fair amount
> >of time available.
>
> >My thought was to cover the basics of Ada, the language, in the first
> >half (third?) of the course. My expectation is that because of their
> >background, the students will pick up the basic ideas fairly quickly.
> >The question becomes: in what direction should I take the rest of the
> >course? I would like to talk about something that shows the language in
> >a good light as well as captures student interest. Some kind of
> >introduction to a GUI library or network library might be good (the
> >students have never done any GUI or network programming before). Also
> >because I teach in a computer engineering curriculum, low level device
> >control applications would be reasonable and appropriate as well.
>
> >Anyway, I'm sure I can put something together. However, I thought I
> >would ask here to see if anyone has some suggestions for libraries,
> >tools, etc, that I might look at as I prepare materials for next semester.
>
> >In case it matters, I'll be using the GNAT compiler.
>
> >Thanks!
>
> >Peter-