Re: Looking for ADA (2)

["Chris Sparks (Mr. Ada)" <sparks@AISF.COM>]

Rick Thorne wrote:

> As a college student, why are you bothering with Ada anyway?  My
> recommendations:

Who are you to give this kind of advice to a college student?  Most
colleges
are using Ada as entry level languages.

> 1) Learn C, C++, Java, and other language technologies that actually have
> a future in the US.

If all of your friends decide to jump off a cliff will you?  I guess
sooooooooooooooo.

> 2) Don't sweat Ada unless you get a job in a US DoD contractor's shop or a
> job in Europe, then let THEM pay you to work while you learn the language.

I would like to see a company that is a "C"/"C++" house give an Ada
programmer
a chance to learn that language.  It seems that the Ada community is
more
forgiving to those who don't know Ada.  I know since I get end up
mentoring
a lot of people without Ada experience.

> 3) Keep your C, C++, & Java skills sharp whilst you work with Ada, because
> Ada's going away quickly, yes, even in the DoD world because of the Perry
> Initiative and the soon-to-happen elimination of the Ada Requirements
> (probably by july '97).

I would think keeping up one Ada skills will take a person a long way.
It
is my experience that a lot of C/C++ programmers are sloppy and
unorganized.
A true Ada programmer, with years of experience, is just as or more
efficient
than any C programmer I have ever seen.  Ada forces a person to have a
persnickety, for lack of a better word, mind set when it comes to
programming.

> 4) Learn OOA/D methods; these are the elements of the Software Crisis
> unsolved by Ada.  As Brooks stated in "No Silver Bullet": Ada is just a
> programming language.  It doesn't cover all the ground by any means.

Which language does?  I find that people who poo-poo Ada are lazy people
who would rather throw some spaghetti code together and call it software
engineering.  Yuch!

> Good luck, and look to a future that HAS a future.

Your arrogance is appalling.

Chris Sparks