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=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,26c98aaeafe861d2 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1993-04-04 00:45:19 PST Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Path: gmd.de!newsserver.jvnc.net!darwin.sura.net!wupost!uunet!seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Subject: Proficiency in Ada Message-ID: <1993Apr4.032918.783@seas.gwu.edu> Sender: news@seas.gwu.edu Organization: George Washington University References: <46we2B1w165w@netlink.cts.com> Date: Sun, 4 Apr 1993 03:29:18 GMT Date: 1993-04-04T03:29:18+00:00 List-Id: In article <46we2B1w165w@netlink.cts.com> mshapiro@netlink.cts.com (Michael Shapiro) writes: > >There's a difference between learning a language enough to use it and >becoming extremely proficient in it. An experienced programmer should be >able to pick up any language similar to the one they've been using fairly >quickly. But they'll learn more and more features and techniques with >use. One of the cost models I have used (SoftCost, if I recall), assumes >an Ada programmer is less than fully proficient until they've completed >three projects. > This is NOT a useful figure of merit unless it is given together with similar figures for other languages. Do we know how many months, years, or projects are required before a programmer is proficient in, say, Fortran or C, sufficiently to write the kind of robust and maintainable systems we all desire? Without useful comparative data, you are merely perpetuating the canard that Ada is somehow DIFFERENT, HARDER, than its predecessors or successors. I have seen, in 10 years of doing Ada, lots of figures showing how long it takes to train an Ada programmer, but none that do an honest comparison of the costs to train a programmer in other languages, TO THE EXTENT THAT THEIR CODE IS OF EQUIVALENT QUALITY. I'll bet we'd find that the numbers are fairly equivalent; I'd like to believe that an honest comparison would show Ada in a favorable light, but that would be speculation, as I have not seen any such comparative data. Mike Feldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science School of Engineering and Applied Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 USA (202) 994-5253 (voice) (202) 994-5296 (fax) mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet) "The most important thing is to be sincere, and once you've learned how to fake that, you've got it made." -- old show-business adage ------------------------------------------------------------------------