Re: Ada tutorial textbook recommendations solicited

[blackje%sungod.tcpip@GE-CRD.ARPA]

Received: by sungod.steinmetz (3.2/1.1x Steinmetz)
	id AA26185; Wed, 5 Aug 87 09:54:38 EDT
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 87 09:54:38 EDT
From: emmett black <blackje@sungod>
Posted-Date: Wed, 5 Aug 87 09:54:38 EDT
Message-Id: <8708051354.AA26185@sungod.steinmetz>
To: info-ada@ada20.isi.edu
Subject: Re:  Ada tutorial textbook recommendations solicited

I tried to resply directly, but have been unable to reach Chris.
So here it goes to the net.

----- Begin Forwarded Message -----
Date: Mon, 3 Aug 87 17:51:24 EDT
From: emmett black <blackje@sungod>
Posted-Date: Mon, 3 Aug 87 17:51:24 EDT
To: carterc@msudoc.egr.msu.edu
Subject: Re:  Ada tutorial textbook recommendations solicited


As it turns out, the real "trick" to Ada is not really the LANGUAGE
itself;  but the different way you have to THINK about a problem
when you attack it with Ada.....

you have to develop "Ada-think" when you approach a problem....
therefore it's SOFTWARE ENGINEERING that you have to study --
then the syntax and the semantics of the Ada language come along 
easily....

I've know LOTS of programmers who wrote FORTRAN (FORTRASH?) code
with Ada syntax, and compiled it with an Ada compiler.....
but it was STILL FORTRAN.
Once upon a time when I managed a project which used Ada, 
back when there were no REAL Ada compilers -- only NYU AdaED and
an EARLY, EARLY TeleSoft compiler -- I found that anyone who had
FORTRAN experience on their resumes had to be sent back to the
showers...  the people who "spoke" ONLY Pascal or an assembly
language (and no FORTRAN) were the ones most easily "converted" 
to "Ada-Think"......

so look for some stuff to read on s/w engineering and THEN study Ada...
unfortunately, i'm not able to recommend many good books on s/w engineering and
methodologies -- and several books that purport to talk about them 
spend too much time worrying about syntax and semantics....
but here goes.... 
and in no particular order....scan and see if you like any of these:

Software Engineering with Modula-2 and Ada; Wiener & Sincovec
Software Engineering with Ada;  Grady Booch
Systems Design with Ada; R.J.A. Buhr
Structured Analysis and System Specification; Tom DeMarco
Ada: An Advanced Introduction; Narian Gehani
System Development; M.A.Jackson
Logical Construction of Systems; J.D.Warnier
An Introduction to Ada; Stephen Young         <-- my group liked this one

and I also recall seeing a book with a title something
like:  "Ada for Pascal Programmers" or something similar..
there is also a reasonably good book coming out later this year
from Benjamin Cummings (publishers) by Ed Brevard about
Object Oriented Design -- not sure about the title, but "object oriented"
will no doubt be there....

have fun.

--Emmett
	BlackJE@GE-CRD.Arpa

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