* Is ada usfull in the cumputer world?
@ 1997-01-12 0:00 bc591813
1997-01-12 0:00 ` Christopher J. Henrich
1997-01-13 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
0 siblings, 2 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: bc591813 @ 1997-01-12 0:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
I'm starting a cumputer science programme and ada is the language will use
to lurn how to program cuputer.. will it be usfull???
Robert Bouchard
Montr=E9al
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
* Re: Is ada usfull in the cumputer world?
1997-01-12 0:00 Is ada usfull in the cumputer world? bc591813
@ 1997-01-12 0:00 ` Christopher J. Henrich
1997-01-13 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1 sibling, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: Christopher J. Henrich @ 1997-01-12 0:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
In article <5bbn22$hdj@cumin.telecom.uqam.ca>, bc591813@er.uqam.ca wrote:
> I'm starting a cumputer science programme and ada is the language will use
> to lurn how to program cuputer.. will it be usfull???
>
>
>
> Robert Bouchard
> Montr=E9al
Yes. Bear in mind that the most important things to learn about writing
good software are not the details of one or another programming language,
but skills.
"Modularization" is one such skill. It consists in dividing the work of
a program into manageable parts, each of which has a well-defined mission.
"Encapsulation" is another. It amounts to making a clean separation
between the "inside" and the "outside" of each significant part of a program.
Often, the "outside" is called the "interface" and the "inside" is called
the "implementation."
Ada is good for learning to program, because it has language features
that help a programmer to practice these skills. The skills themselves,
once learned, can be practiced in other languages as well.
--
Christopher J. Henrich
chenrich@monmouth.com
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread* Re: Is ada usfull in the cumputer world?
1997-01-12 0:00 Is ada usfull in the cumputer world? bc591813
1997-01-12 0:00 ` Christopher J. Henrich
@ 1997-01-13 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1 sibling, 0 replies; 3+ messages in thread
From: Richard A. O'Keefe @ 1997-01-13 0:00 UTC (permalink / raw)
bc591813@er.uqam.ca writes:
>I'm starting a cumputer science programme and ada is the language will use
>to lurn how to program cuputer.. will it be usfull???
Yes, Ada will be useful. Very useful.
But with the utmost possible respect, there is a language that will
be even *more* useful to you.
English.
The single most important skill a programmer needs is
_mastery_ of his or her native language.
If that language is not English, then English skill comes second.
When it comes to programming languages, the most important thing about
your introductory course is actually your teacher. If your teacher is
a good programmer who thoroughly understands the language used and
enjoys teaching it to you, you probably won't go far wrong. If your
course uses the best language in the world (Haskell) but the teacher
would rather be using INTERCAL, you're going to have trouble.
(Ok, so Ada is as good as Haskell. They actually have a lot in common.)
--
My tertiary education cost a quarter of a million in lost income
(assuming close-to-minimum wage); why make students pay even more?
Richard A. O'Keefe; http://www.cs.rmit.edu.au/%7Eok; RMIT Comp.Sci.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 3+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~1997-01-13 0:00 UTC | newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed)
-- links below jump to the message on this page --
1997-01-12 0:00 Is ada usfull in the cumputer world? bc591813
1997-01-12 0:00 ` Christopher J. Henrich
1997-01-13 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
This is a public inbox, see mirroring instructions
for how to clone and mirror all data and code used for this inbox