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,c60b37b6723e9519,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: "Chris Sparks (Mr. Ada)" Subject: Re: Looking for ADA (2) Date: 1997/03/25 Message-ID: <3337E7A8.4E6F@aisf.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 228251768 Sender: Ada programming language References: Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU Organization: McDonnell Douglas Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-03-25T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: 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