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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_40,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,28e916a6ee5167b2 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Chad Bremmon Subject: Re: Real Life Ada Date: 1996/08/05 Message-ID: <3205E9A0.328A@comm.hq.af.mil>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 172301298 references: <00001a73+000030db@msn.com> content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii organization: SAM-GAPR mime-version: 1.0 newsgroups: comp.lang.ada x-mailer: Mozilla 2.01Gold (WinNT; I) Date: 1996-08-05T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: 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