Re: What is ADA?

[Alan Brain <aebrain@dynamite.com.au>]

David Chang wrote:

>         So, will you nice people be kindly give me a rough idea what's
> Ada and how different it is compare with C(My best programming language).
> How should I be prepared for it?  What I need to read or do? and
> Suggestions for books or readings, etc.  I will be very approciate it.
> 
>         The additional information that will help me is that.  Where can I
> get a Ada compiler and what platform can it exist on.  How many version of
> Ada is out there, price of compiler, etc.  Thank you, thank you very much.
> 
> Thank you for your time

David, first congrats on getting the job. BTW you won't be Robinson
Crusoe in knowing little about the language. Most firms are set up to
teach you on the job out of neccessity.

Secondly, all you ever wanted to know is in http://www.adahome.com/

Thirdly, although if you go to the above URL it will answer all your
questions, here's some short answers to your specific questions anyway.

How does Ada compare with C?
- There's an article at the above site, on the equivalencies for Ada and
C - "Ada for C programmers"
If you read K&R, in the preface it states that C is a relatively
low-level language. You're dealing with bytes, floats and so on, very
close to the way the machine operates, with few concessions to
expressing a solution to a problem in the real world. Ada is a
high-level language, where it's possible (even encouraged) not just to
distinguish between ints and floats, but between temperatures and
distances.

How should you prepare for it?
- Do the Lovelace on-line tutorial, available at http://www.adahome.com/
which is by far the best on-line tutorial for any language I've ever
seen.

Suggestions for books
- I like Barnes, "Programming in Ada" but there are many others, see the
URL for details.

Where can I get a Ada compiler and what platform can it exist on.
- http://www.adahome.com/ has several FREE Ada compilers. GNAT is
probably the best, it's "Industrial Strength", not just a learning
compiler. Platform - IBM compatible, MAC, Unix...

How many version of Ada is out there, price of compiler, etc.
- There's Ada-83 (the original) and Ada-95. Many of the OO concepts in
C++ are already in Ada-83, Ada-95 has the rest plus a lot more. As to
price of compiler, you can download a FREE one, or buy a CD from Walnut
Creek which has 1.3 GB of Ada material, including compilers, tutorials,
the language reference manual, etc etc etc available at
http://www.cdrom.com/ I believe. Cost plus shipping is under $45.

BTW it's Ada not ADA.  
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