Re: Why is Ada NOT a good choice for a beginner to programming?

[Alfred Hilscher <Alfred.Hilscher@t-online.de>]

David Wright schrieb:
> As a young adult investigating learning programming as a hobby
> (self-teaching on PC, Windows 98), I’ve been lurking for a while and have
> looked at some relevant Ada sites. My purpose is to gradually and thoroughly
> learn  computing constructs and ultimately to apply same and see how far I
> can take this interest. I'm not making a career of it... well not yet
> anyway.
> 
> To this end, I obviously need to commit to a particular language programming
> environment (not necessarily a GUI development interface); yet there seem to
> be several hurdles to even this crucial initial step.  It seems that there
> are three essential threshold requirements, namely:
> 
> 1) A free (preferably) downloadable programming environment that is installs
> without fuss and instability

Use GNAT, AdaGide and GVD. The links are shown in Gautiers post. First
install GNAT and then install AdaGide (not the other way round). GVD
should be installed automatically with GNAT.

> 2) Good online and hardcopy support (tutorials and textbooks) for a BEGINNER
> PROGRAMMER per se, not just beginners with that LANGUAGE

You find links for download on www.adapower.com or on www.adaic.org but
books in a bookstore could be a problem -  most of them have only the
"hypes" (C#, Java).


> 3) An online community that has a tradition of supporting such beginners to
> programming.

What's about comp.lang.ada ?
 
> BASIC and PASCAL very!! clearly fulfill these criteria and I am tempted to
> start with one of them. However the posts of Richard Riehle and others on
> this and other newsgroups speak so highly of Ada’s functionality and syntax
> clarity that it’s hard to overlook this as a possibility.

When I was studying, we started with Fortran and Pascal, but I think
this was only because there was no Ada then (1980). Ada is a good start
- from a technical point of view. But - don't tell your friends. They do
C or C++ and you will be a stranger for them.
 
> On the other hand, and with the best will in the world, I can’t see that Ada
> satisfies ANY of the three criteria above,

Open your eyes ;-)

> Specific Questions:
> 1) Am I not giving Ada sufficient credit for being a suitable entry-level
> language for a BEGINNING PROGRAMMER?

Yes, i think. But -you're not the only one.


> 2) Would you recommend that I immerse myself in either BASIC (QBasic) or
No.

> PASCAL (Borland TP7) for a couple of years (yes, OK... forget BASIC ;D) and

Pascal, ok. But keep in mind that TP is _not_ Pascal.

 
> 3) If you were to opt for Ada as an entry point, which particular dialect or
> environment would be the most user friendly from a set up and

No "dialects" in Ada.

> Please accept that I am not trying to offend anyone; it’s just that this
> initial phase is somewhat forbidding to a neophyte and I need to be a
> critical, hype-detecting, cynic ;D.
> 
> Many thanks in advance.

You're welcome ;-)
 
> David.

Alfred