Re: Ada, "Software Fantasyland," and Quick Courses

[gore@eecs.nwu.edu (Jacob Gore)]

/ comp.lang.ada / balcer@gypsy.siemens-rtl (Marc J Balcer) / Feb 15, 1989 /
> 1.  How much re-educating of DoD software enginners is necessary
>     BEFORE teaching Ada?  In other words, should we be teaching
>     software engineering fundamentals first?  What's the most
>     effective way to do this?

Very frequently, when I try to explain to people that there is a big
problem with the software-related part of the CS curriculum at
Northwestern, I am asked, "Well, what language would you teach?"

Wrong question.

Programming languages are tools.  Teaching Ada for the sake of teaching Ada
is a waste of everybody's time.  Most (all, hopefully :-) of the people
taking courses here are literate; they can read on their own enough Ada
books and manuals to learn anything from how to write a BASIC program in
Ada syntax, to the most intricate details of the language.

Ada IS just another language.  What is different about it is what was meant
to be expressed in it.

What needs to be taught are the skills, methodologies, techniques,
approaches... whatever else you wish to call them.  The language used in
a course is there to help illustrate the concepts and to experiment with
their implementations.

In this light, the question of what (if anything) to teach (or re-teach)
before teaching Ada turns into the question of whether or not Ada is the
first language to use to illustrate such concepts.

I think it can be, but it doesn't have to be (in fact, it may not be my
first choice).  Ada can be taught either concurrently with teaching the
concepts, using it to illustrate them, or, if another language is used to
present the concepts, after those concepts are already presented.  In the
latter case, a "quick course" in Ada will be sufficient to let the students
get on with their work.  Of course, real proficiency in using Ada can only
come with experience.

Jacob Gore				Gore@EECS.NWU.Edu
Northwestern Univ., EECS Dept.		{oddjob,gargoyle,att}!nucsrl!gore