ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Zhu Qun-Ying]

Hi,

I have finally finished the conversion of the AdaTutor in my blog space: 
http://zhu-qy.blogspot.com/2012/08/adatutor.html

Next I will prepare a set of downloadable html files for the tutorial as 
I have promised Karl.

Please let me know if any format, link or content error.

Thanks

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Nasser M. Abbasi]

On 9/29/2012 12:50 AM, Zhu Qun-Ying wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have finally finished the conversion of the AdaTutor in my blog space:
> http://zhu-qy.blogspot.com/2012/08/adatutor.html
>
> Next I will prepare a set of downloadable html files for the tutorial as
> I have promised Karl.
>
> Please let me know if any format, link or content error.
>
> Thanks
>

The colors you are using are hard on the eyes. Orange on black
is hard to read.

No need for candy colors, just use normal white background
and black text. Content is what is important. This is Ada,
not Javascript.

--Nasser

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Zhu Qun-Ying]

Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
> On 9/29/2012 12:50 AM, Zhu Qun-Ying wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have finally finished the conversion of the AdaTutor in my blog space:
>> http://zhu-qy.blogspot.com/2012/08/adatutor.html
>>
>> Next I will prepare a set of downloadable html files for the tutorial as
>> I have promised Karl.
>>
>> Please let me know if any format, link or content error.
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>
> The colors you are using are hard on the eyes. Orange on black
> is hard to read.
>
> No need for candy colors, just use normal white background
> and black text. Content is what is important. This is Ada,
> not Javascript.
>
> --Nasser
I don't like the color either, those are the default color theme from 
blogger, but the other themes I dislike more.  I am not a good designer 
at all regarding to color theme.

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Patrick]

Too much whinning in this thread, you did a great job!

Thanks very much for helping us all out with a currently dated Ada tutorial. There are too many sites that make it seem like Ada is dead.

Please keep up the hard work.

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Michael Erdmann]

On 09/30/2012 01:41 AM, Patrick wrote:
> Too much whinning in this thread, you did a great job!
>
> Thanks very much for helping us all out with a currently dated Ada tutorial. There are too many sites that make it seem like Ada is dead.

... Ada is dead ...

Actually if i am not wrong but there is not Ada fan page in facebook...

May be you could add a facebook like button. I will take care of the ada 
fan page :-)

/Michael


>
> Please keep up the hard work.
>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Simon Wright]

Michael Erdmann <boavista@snafu.de> writes:

> Actually if i am not wrong but there is not Ada fan page in facebook...
>
> May be you could add a facebook like button. I will take care of the
> ada fan page :-)

What about this[1]?

(I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
wrong.)

I see the Wikipedia page[2] doesn't mention Ada 2012 yet ...

[1]
<https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada/108000329220798?fref=ts&rf=111210228906807>
[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_%28programming_language%29>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Nasser M. Abbasi]

On 10/7/2012 3:38 AM, Simon Wright wrote:

>
> (I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
> wrong.)
>

It seems these days if something does not have a 'fan page' at
facebook then it is not a cool thing.

So Ada will become a cool language only when it has its own page at
facebook! Like for example C++ has

https://www.facebook.com/cprogramming

--Nasser

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Michael Erdmann]

On 10/07/2012 03:24 PM, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
> On 10/7/2012 3:38 AM, Simon Wright wrote:
>
>>
>> (I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
>> wrong.)
>>
>
> It seems these days if something does not have a 'fan page' at
> facebook then it is not a cool thing.
>
> So Ada will become a cool language only when it has its own page at
> facebook! Like for example C++ has
>
I think it is already a cool language but it deserves a bit more
attention :-)

My feeling is that the ada community seems to use outdated
communication channels ...

> https://www.facebook.com/cprogramming

Well; not a realy good example; information density goes to zero; better
look at the fb pages of large organisations ,,,

https://www.facebook.com/NASA
https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanSpaceAgency

In this way important events like releases of software, conferences etc
can be put in the time line.


>
> --Nasser
>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Patrick]

"My feeling is that the ada community seems to use outdated communication channels ..."

Did anyone get my carrier pigeon message about compiling GNAT? It's getting cold and I am getting very worried about my pigeon :(

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Egil Høvik]

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 6:45:11 PM UTC+2, Patrick wrote:
> "My feeling is that the ada community seems to use outdated communication channels ..."
> 
> 
> 
> Did anyone get my carrier pigeon message about compiling GNAT? It's getting cold and I am getting very worried about my pigeon :(

You think carrier pigeons are outdated? 
You are most likely using RFC 894 - "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams over Ethernet Networks" to post to this newgroup, which dates back to 1984.
However, RFC 1149 - "A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers" only dates back to 1990.

Your pigeon is clearly the more modern, and we should all use Avian Carriers for our IP transmissions. New is always better, right?  ;)

-- 
~egilhh

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Shark8]

On Sunday, October 7, 2012 7:24:31 AM UTC-6, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
> On 10/7/2012 3:38 AM, Simon Wright wrote:
> 
> 
> > (I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
> > wrong.)
> >
> 
> It seems these days if something does not have a 'fan page' at
> facebook then it is not a cool thing.

It's here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada/108000329220798?ref=ts&fref=ts&rf=107075929329014

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Michael Erdmann]

On 10/07/2012 08:20 PM, Shark8 wrote:
> On Sunday, October 7, 2012 7:24:31 AM UTC-6, Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
>> On 10/7/2012 3:38 AM, Simon Wright wrote:
>>
>>
>>> (I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
>>> wrong.)
>>>
>>
>> It seems these days if something does not have a 'fan page' at
>> facebook then it is not a cool thing.
>
> It's here:
> http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada/108000329220798?ref=ts&fref=ts&rf=107075929329014

True; there is a page; but there is no community around it :-/

Actually this is the page you get when you go to the AdaIC.


Mean while i have setup a page with a time line; rather rudimentary i 
have to say but it is just an example.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada-a-language-for-a-complex-world/528580827156159?ref=hl


/Michael

>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57)]

Le Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:24:30 +0200, Nasser M. Abbasi <nma@12000.org> a  
écrit:

> So Ada will become a cool language only when it has its own page at
> facebook! Like for example C++ has
>
> https://www.facebook.com/cprogramming

It's ugly, and it's ridiculous. Even gets less Likes than the Ada fan page  
which is not an Ada fan page, Simon Wright mentioned (  
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada/108000329220798?fref=ts&rf=111210228906807  
). 153 likes for the C++ fan page in common English, compared to 389 likes  
for the Wikipedia's page clone in a language which appears to be Bahasa  
Indonesia.

Too much funny, could not resist.

-- 
“Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semi-colons.” [1]
“Structured Programming supports the law of the excluded muddle.” [1]
[1]: Epigrams on Programming — Alan J. — P. Yale University

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Michael Erdmann]

On 10/07/2012 10:38 AM, Simon Wright wrote:
> Michael Erdmann <boavista@snafu.de> writes:
>
>> Actually if i am not wrong but there is not Ada fan page in facebook...
>>
>> May be you could add a facebook like button. I will take care of the
>> ada fan page :-)
>
> What about this[1]?
>
> (I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
> wrong.)
>
The idea of a fan page in fb would be to publish important events
in the Ada community (e.g. Compiler releases, Conferences etc) in a
comprehensive form :-)

This wikipedia page is fine; but does not say anything about
the community behind Ada :-/

Michael


> I see the Wikipedia page[2] doesn't mention Ada 2012 yet ...
>
> [1]
> <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada/108000329220798?fref=ts&rf=111210228906807>
> [2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_%28programming_language%29>
>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57)]

Le Sun, 07 Oct 2012 10:38:43 +0200, Simon Wright <simon@pushface.org> a  
écrit:

> [1]
> <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ada/108000329220798?fref=ts&rf=111210228906807>

The before:
> What about this[1]?
>
> (I don't understand the "fan page" aspect of FB, so maybe I have it
> wrong.)

Naturally it looks weird for a fan page, because that's not a fan page,  
that's just FaceBook cloning a Wikipedia's page content, as it often do.  
Look at the icon at the top‑left of the page

-- 
“Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semi-colons.” [1]
“Structured Programming supports the law of the excluded muddle.” [1]
[1]: Epigrams on Programming — Alan J. — P. Yale University

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Patrick]

Hi Qunying

Never mind the recent troll visit....

Thanks again for you great work

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Michael Erdmann]

On 10/07/2012 02:40 PM, Patrick wrote:
> Hi Qunying
>
> Never mind the recent troll visit....
>
Troll; i gues i should be the first to know :-)

But i am serious; i am using Ada for longer then 15 years; but when
i am looking at the community today my feeling is that the Ada community
it focussing to much on it self.

/Michael


> Thanks again for you great work
>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Ludovic Brenta]

Michael Erdmann writes on comp.lang.ada:
>> Never mind the recent troll visit....
>
> Troll; i gues i should be the first to know :-)
>
> But i am serious; i am using Ada for longer then 15 years; but when i
> am looking at the community today my feeling is that the Ada community
> it focussing to much on it self.

What are you doing or going to do to change that? Do you for example
propose to give a talk at FOSDEM 2013?

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Michael Erdmann]

This is a good idea to think about ...

May be it is a good idea to decouple the discussion from the AdaTutor 
thread; i will start a new thread about the issue.


/Michael




On 10/07/2012 05:25 PM, Ludovic Brenta wrote:
> Michael Erdmann writes on comp.lang.ada:
>>> Never mind the recent troll visit....
>>
>> Troll; i gues i should be the first to know :-)
>>
>> But i am serious; i am using Ada for longer then 15 years; but when i
>> am looking at the community today my feeling is that the Ada community
>> it focussing to much on it self.
>
> What are you doing or going to do to change that? Do you for example
> propose to give a talk at FOSDEM 2013?
>

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[AdaMagica]

This text in the tutorial about UC is nonsense:

<quote>
One use of Ada.Unchecked_Conversion might be to allow us to and two Integers.  (Ada 95 allows us to and two objects of a modular type, but not two Integers.) Some Ada compilers come with a package that enables us to and two Integers, but many compilers have no such package.  Suppose that types Integer and Boolean occupy the same amount of storage.  If our program says with Ada.Unchecked_Conversion; we could write

function Int_To_Bool is new Ada.Unchecked_Conversion(Integer, Boolean);
function Bool_To_Int is new Ada.Unchecked_Conversion(Boolean, Integer);
function "and"(Left, Right : in Integer) return Integer is
begin
   return Bool_To_Int(Int_To_Bool(Left) and Int_To_Bool(Right));
end "and";
</quote>

Integer and Boolean have never the same size. Boolean'Size = 1. "and" will pick either the MSB or the LSB of Left and Right, depending on compiler resp. hardware.

(Ada83 was a bit unclear about the meaning of 'Size, there are differences in the behaviour of compilers. Ada95 fixed that - in a way that some find awkward.)

UC between Integer and Natural might work or include a multiplication/division by 2 because Natural'Size=Integer'Size-1. I have been bitten by UC between objects of types with different sizes when porting some legacy Ada83 code to a different hardware and compiler. Be careful: Stand-along objects of subtype Natural and of Integer have of course the same size - what matters for UC is the subtype's size, which is given by 'Size - this is why GNAT has an attribute 'Object_Size.

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Micronian Coder]

Hi,

I remember using Ada Tutor when I was beginning to learn Ada. It was very helpful, especially the quizzes at the end of various sections. Thank you for bringing it back!

I skimmed a few parts and find that it looks quite good, especially compared to the original old DOS text screens (even then it was fin :) ).

What I think should be addressed, however, are the references to adahome.com. It would be nice if all references to adahome.com be replaced with better sites (e.g. reference the Ada RM from ada-auth.org instead).

Again, great job resurrecting an already nice Ada tutorial.

(Micronian Coder)

On Friday, September 28, 2012 10:50:03 PM UTC-7, qunying wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> 
> 
> I have finally finished the conversion of the AdaTutor in my blog space: 
> 
> http://zhu-qy.blogspot.com/2012/08/adatutor.html
> 
> 
> 
> Next I will prepare a set of downloadable html files for the tutorial as 
> 
> I have promised Karl.
> 
> 
> 
> Please let me know if any format, link or content error.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks

Re: ANN: AdaTutor on the Web - done

[Shark8]

On Friday, September 28, 2012 11:50:03 PM UTC-6, qunying wrote:
> I have finally finished the conversion of the AdaTutor in my blog space: 
> http://zhu-qy.blogspot.com/2012/08/adatutor.html
> 
> Next I will prepare a set of downloadable html files for the tutorial as 
> I have promised Karl.

Nice work.
One little nit to pick, in the recursion example ( http://zhu-qy.blogspot.com/2012/08/adatutor-recursion.html ) factorial is a bad choice to illustrate recursion as it is worse, both in speed and size [due to it's linear call-nature], than the iterative/for-loop -- a better candidate would be the power function as it presents a logarithmic call-nature... though I fully expect "**" to be optimized even beyond the simple recursive-function.