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=0.7 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE, MSGID_SHORT,REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada books for undergraduate computer science Message-ID: <3244@sparko.gwu.edu> Date: 1 Jun 91 02:30:10 GMT References: <3241@sparko.gwu.edu> <2322@atlas.cs.nps.navy.mil> Reply-To: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu () Organization: The George Washington University, Washington D.C. List-Id: In article <2322@atlas.cs.nps.navy.mil> erickson@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil (David Erickson) writes: > >I've taken the liberty of adding a few titles to the 2nd list which I >have found useful (Bray&Pokrass, and the two Gehani texts). I think the >Lomuto text belongs in the first group - it emphasizes problem solving >(based on Polya's How to Solve It), and would be a good addition to CS1 >courses. I took another look at Lomuto. I like the book a lot, but I don't think the typical freshman could handle the assumptions Lomuto makes about their sophistication in algorithm development and about their programming background - he uses linked lists fairly liberally, for example - this is squarely a CS2 topic in most schools. A CS1 course typically assumes that the student has scarcely seen a computer before. NPS has the luxury of assuming a four-year UG education in its students. Even if they are new to computing, they have the maturity rarely seen (Alas!) in today's first-year college kids. An undergrad book (maybe as part of an algorithms course), yes. A CS1 book, I don't think so. Check the 1984 ACM recommended outline for CS1 (by Koffman, Miller, et al). I think the Bray/Pokrass book is out of print. Too bad. I know the book, but don't think it's available. I use Gehani's "Ada: Concurrent Programming" in my graduate course on that subject (and/or his Concurrent C book, which is similar except for differences in coding language). His "Unix Ada Programming" is almost identical to "Ada: an Advanced Introduction." It's a slightly modified spinoff, in my opinion. I generally like Gehani's style. I used the latter book for a year or so in my graduate comparative languages course (as the Ada book). Surprisingly, most of the students didn't like his style. Maybe it made them think too much. We use Cohen now; they complain less. Mike Feldman