Re: Object Pascal vs Ada -- which is better for a hobbyist?

[Georg Bauhaus <rm.dash-bauhaus@futureapps.de>]

On 06.07.13 09:04, Dufr wrote:
> The reasons you guys gave in favor of Ada are all pretty solid, no doubt. And yet, I am not fully convinced yet, because:
>
> a hobbiyst learner needs a lot of support, and from what I have seen Object Pascal (in the form of Free Pascal) has a much larger community of enthusiasts than Ada, with a very active forum.

When a large, active community went gold panning, those who reliably
made profit were those who owned the hotels, or sold rubber boots.

> By simply comparing this Ada Google Group

This is not a Google Group. Google just displays this group, which
is comp.lang.ada, as if it was a Google Group. It isn't. This group
is independent of Google, both technically and conceptually.

> I am just wondering whether Ada, which is no doubt a superior language from the technical point of view, is really for me - considering all the practical hurdles that a learner has to face, vis-a-vis the fact that the expectation of receiving practical support from the Ada community *seems* more limited than with Object Pascal.

In a pinch, and not just then, Rosetta Code has many practical examples
for Ada. GNAT has high quality examples right in its distribution,
John English's online book, "The Craft of Object-Oriented Programming",
is just one of many excellent resources for learning the language.
Do the exercises.

If you have questions while studying any of your choice, or a good book,
ask, here, or at StackExchange.

Do you have any more specific questions not covered in the resources?

To get started, see if you can work through the first two chapters
of a resource; be a little patient and start over as necessary.
Install GNAT, and be sure to read the introductory material about
GNAT and Ada in the GNAT User's Guide. It's worth it, even if you
decide you should do something else, first.