Re: Ada Texts for experienced programmers

Re: Ada Texts for experienced programmers

[Mike Feldman]

I am partial to Narain Gehani's two books:
 Ada, an Advanced Introduction, Prentice Hall 1983
 Ada: Concurrent Programming, Prentice Hall 1984.

Gehani is well-educated, knows his languages and his OS's. He's one of
the few Ada I've encountered who doesn't patronize the reader by selling
Ada as the greatest thing since sliced bread. He assumes the reader knows
something and starts from there. I particularly like the tasking book
for its balanced and analytical view of tasking in the context of
concurrent programming in general.

For another excellent analysis of tasking (more critical than Gehani
but usually on target) see if you can get
  Concurrent Programming in Ada by Alan Burns
  Cambridge University Press, 1985
The first half is a good tasking tutorial, the second half a critique.

I have heard good things about Norman Cohen's book
  Ada as a Second Language
but have only skimmed it myself.

Re: Ada Texts for experienced programmers

[eric]

There is an additonal text that I have been carrying around like the
bible.

     Software Components with Ada, Structures, Tools and
SubSystems, Grady Booch,Benjamin Cummings Publishing Company,
isbn number is 0-8053-0610-2,

The book is infinitely useful for real heavy duty generics. I don't
agree with some of his philosophy about including only basic parts
in a generic and letting the user build up components. Its like
taking a bunch of 7400's, 7404's, 7474's (ttl chips that is -
gates, inverters, and flip-flops) to do the same thing you can
do in a PAL. But regardless, this is not a book for beginners.