Re: Real Life Ada

[Chad Bremmon <chad.bremmon@comm.hq.af.mil>]

Kenneth Mays wrote:
> 
> 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.

If any person goes to college to "learn a language," they need their head examined.  I personally 
never took a course on a "language" in college.  I was expected to use several languages in what I 
turned it, but the course was not on the language. 

Ada is a good teaching language.  Because of it's strong typing and abstract data type capabilities, 
it helps the student learn right from wrong as a part of the learning experience.  

> 
> 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
> ??? 

Yes it does!!  If it doesn't, you were paying more to the syntax than to the sematics of what you 
were learning.  

> 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