Re: Any ADA tutors out there?

[wheeler@ida.org (David Wheeler)]

AJ (aj13@mindspring.com) wrote:
: Sorry if this is a repetitive question on this group, but I need to learn
: 'ADA' & I need to learn it FAST.  I catch on relatively quick & am very
: computer friendly.  Lemmie know if you can help. -AJ
: Also in search of good downloadable tutorials & instruction books, web
: sites, etc...

I'm biased, but I recommend the following book:

"Ada 95: The Lovelace Tutorial" by David A. Wheeler.
The publisher is Springer-Verlag and its ISBN number is 0-387-948-01-5.
It's about 292 pages long and it was published in March 1997.

Here's a quote from the preface that explains its purpose:
"This tutorial explains the basics of the Ada computer programming
 language and assumes that you have had some exposure to some other
 algorithmic programming language (such as Pascal, C, C++, Fortran,
 or BASIC)."

Below is how to order it and what's in it.

============= How to Order the Book ==============

The following are various ways you can order the book:
* You can call Springer-Verlag.
In the U.S., Canada and Mexico their toll-free number is (800) 777-4643.
You can also fax an order to (201) 348-4505 from those three countries.
If you are in another country, contact Springer-Verlag in
Berlin, Germany by phone at 49 30 827 870 or by fax at 49 30 821 4091.

* You can deal with Springer-Verlag electronically.
The web site of Springer-Verlag New York is "http://www.springer-ny.com/".
You can email an order. In the U.S.A., Canada, and Mexico send email to
"orders@springer-ny.com", otherwise send email to "orders@springer.de".
 You can order via the web at "http://www.springer-ny.com/ordernew.html".
They take Mastercard, Visa, Discover, or American Express.

* You can order the book electonically through Amazon.com; open URL
"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0387948015/".

* You can use the postal service and send a check or money order to
Spinger-Verlag:
   Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
   Attn: Service Center
   333 Meadowlands Parkway
   Secaucus, NJ 07094


============= What's in the Book ==============

Here is a brief outline of the book:
* Lesson 1 - Brief Introduction to Ada.
* Lesson 2 - Basic Ada Structure (Packages).
* Lesson 3 - Ada Lexical Elements.
* Lesson 4 - Procedures and Type Integer.
* Lesson 5 - Statements (if, loop).
* Lesson 6 - Basic Types (Float, Boolean, subtypes, record).
* Lesson 7 - Object-Oriented Programming.
* Lesson 8 - Introduction to String Types.
* Lesson 9 - Basic Input/Output.
* Lesson 10 - Exceptions.
* Lesson 11 - Generics.
* Lesson 12 - Access Types.
* Lesson 13 - Tasks and Protected Types.
* Lesson 14 - Ada-related Information.
* Lesson 15 - Ada Program Structure.
* Lesson 16 - Interfacing to Other Languages (including C and Java).
* Lesson 17 - Miscellaneous Ada Subjects.
* Lesson 18 - Sample Ada Program "Small".
* Appendices - BNF Explanation and Source Code
* Index

The book has questions at the end of each lesson which should
be useful in classroom settings.  It also has diagrams in the
Unified Modeling Language (UML) that describe in detail the example
in lesson 18.

The book is based on my web-based tutorial; you can find that tutorial
at http://www.adahome.com/Tutorials/Lovelace/lovelace.htm

--- David A. Wheeler
    dwheeler@ida.org