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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,18660da2464b3277 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1995-02-01 15:57:42 PST Path: nntp.gmd.de!Germany.EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!swrinde!news.uh.edu!uuneo.neosoft.com!Starbase.NeoSoft.COM!not-for-mail From: smize@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (Samuel Mize) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: How come so much traffic on comp.lang.ada?? Date: 1 Feb 1995 17:57:42 -0600 Organization: NeoSoft Internet Services +1 713 684 5969 Message-ID: <3gp75m$mge@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: starbase.neosoft.com Date: 1995-02-01T17:57:42-06:00 List-Id: In article , Henry Baker wrote: >I've constantly been amazed by the volume of traffic on comp.lang.ada >relative to comp.lang.c and comp.lang.c++. ... >I can only speculate on the reasons for this: > >1. The Ada language itself is so complex ... >Anyone else have any thoughts as to why this is? n) A lot of computer-literate people are looking into Ada for the first time. When one is learning C, one is usually also learning about computers. n+1) Basic information about Ada is not well distributed, so we get a lot of ignorant questions. A lot of colleges are only now joining the Ada bandwagon, so they don't have local expertise built up (while any college, including colleges without CS departments, has a couple of C hackers around to ask questions of). Thus, we get questions like these recent ones: is there a book that describes the standard Ada packages? (The LRM.) How do you do unblocking terminal I/O in DEC Ada? (use the STARLET package.) Where is it in STARLET? (vi STARLET.ada ; /character ; repeat until you find the right call. Or look in the DEC documents.) How do I XXX in Ada? (Often, RTF LRM). n+2) I run into a lot of people, here and elsewhere, who have learned Ada as a second language, using a textbook, and who try to code significant Ada programs using ONLY that text. Blow the $US 8 for an LRM. (Govt printing office, you can mail order it; most big cities have a GPO bookstore.) Learn to read it (takes a little time to get used to the elaborate Ada terms, like "elaborate"). Then you can stop asking "how do I do MOD arithmetic" etc. In short, the Ada information distribution infrastructure is not nearly as well established as the one for C/C++, so comp.lang.ada takes up some of the slack. Sam Mize - smize@starbase.neosoft.com