Re: Group newbie !

[Mike Paley <mike@paley.demon.co.uk>]

In article: <1996Dec22.214856.1@eisner>  kilgallen@eisner.decus.org (Larry 
Kilgallen) writes:
:) > God knows why they've chosen Ada - it ain't that popular in the UK!
:) 
:) No doubt you would have learned some more popular language through
:) other methods :-).

Like going out and buying a "popular" compiler and do a DIY job on it. I 
could still do that and use the university as a "front".

:) 
:) > I suppose I'm looking for an Ada manual or user guide or whatever you 
:) > wanna call it stuffed with hard facts. All I'm advised to get (by the 
:) > uni), and books I see in shops are all "flowery"*.
:) > 
:) > The sort of thing I'm after is a book with a chapter devoted to Ada 
:) > statements, one per page (or so), giving an explanation, clear syntax, 
:) > a couple of examples and a list of related or similar statements. The 
:) > statements should be listed in alphabetical order as well.
:) > 
:) > Any really useful pages to point browsers at would be useful as well, 2 
:) > (other thread) URLs noted.
:) 
:) www.adahome.com gives pointers to almost everything Ada on the web.

Noted, for later perusal.

:) 
:) If the books you find reviewed there do not meet your standards,
:) you might have to be more specific and one of the authors (they all
:) seem to post here) will write one more to your needs the next time out 
:-).

It wouldn't surprise me if one doesn't exist already. What do you get when 
you buy an Ada compiler anyway ?

[Probably not a lot since manuals seem to be well out of fashion when you 
buy computers, peripherals or software nowadays.]

:) 
:) Considering that you might not be able to wait that long,
:) give a try at some of what's there.  The actual statements might
:) be of less interest than what you currently see as fluff.

I'm not after interest, I'm after hard facts.

  After
:) all, you _know_ that Ada must have an addition operator, and with
:) a few tries you might even be able to guess what the syntax is for
:) addition.
:) 
:) But what will happen when you try to add two variables containing
:) small integers and the compiler tells you they have different types
:) and cannot be added? 

I made a guess at the type string. It gave an error, so I added a bit more:
string(20) and still got an error. Checked in a recommended book and saw 
fluff. Fortunately, there were answers to problems in the back of the book 
and a few seconds browse through them I found:
string(1..20) - problem solved.

From further investigation, I think I've only scratched the surface of the 
type, but it is far more than they've done at the university.

 At that point, you really should have the
:) background on how Ada handles typing (you knew it was strongly typed,
:) but at some point even the most ardent fan of strong typing will cry
:) "uncle" without that background information).

What do you mean by "strong typing" ?

:) 
:) Another area you might regard as superfluous at the start is all
:) that stuff regarding compilation units and packages, etc.  Do not be
:) fooled. 

I'm here to learn - to find out how Ada works. I'll not ignore facts but it 
is trying to get the facts out of the fluff that's the problem.

 Ada compilers are well trained to complain bitterly over
:) many instances of fuzziness that other compilers would let slide.

Yeah ! it's a shame !

Possibly this is why they've chosen Ada - to stop sloppy practices !

:) Once you have got it right, it is really in your best interest
:) use that piece again later on. 

This one of the points that they do make. Create a piece of code that does a 
job then re-use it where the same thing is needed, sometimes with small 
modifications as necessary.


 That is where separate compilation
:) units, and packages, and especially "generics" are important.

One day I'll look up "generic" in a dictionary and try to remember what it 
says about it !

:) 
:) In summary, for Ada a lot of the things you will need are those
:) you probably don't know you need.  

True of many things !

For looking up specific items,
:) the books tend to be well indexed and the on-line aids have hypertext
:) links everywhere you need.  Many compilers will even quote you the
:) chapter and paragraph number of your alleged language standard violation,
:) or even pop your browser into the relevant page.
:) 
:) Larry Kilgallen
:) 
:) 

Thanks very much Larry, I'll also keep my eye on this group as well :)

-- 
Comm again, Mike. 

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If you want to see the rest of this sig. file or find out more about me, 
have a look at http://www.paley.demon.co.uk/ [1996:11:30]