Re: A couple of questions

["Yeric" <NOSPAM@NOSPAM.com>]

> There is A# right now. And other bindings.
>

This is very encouraging :)

> Yes. I've been accompanying the revision process, and I like what I see
very
> much. A number of annoyances in Ada 95 will disapear, and the standard
> library is being updated with lots of really useful stuff. Actually I'm
> using Ada 2005 right now. Ask me how.

Ok I am asking How are you using Ada 2005 :)

> Some things are old, some are new. That's the nature of the Web. There are
a
> lot of projects being updated right now.

True, I got more upto date results from google using Ada95, unfortunately
when I first googled, I did not know much about Ada-83 and Ada95, infact I
only know of Ada because of my academic background, and my old tutor used to
speak very fondly of Ada I think he used to work for M.O.D in UK.

> The latest public version of GNAT, 3.15p, has been around for a lot of
time
> with no serious problem shown.

Ok so the old saying if it aint broke dont fix it

> The bug rate of Ada vs. the other mainstream languages (C, C++, Java) is
in
> the order of 1/10.

This is good to hear, I get very frustrated with C++ at times.

Classes I understand, and inheritence I understand the logic and it makes
sense for reuse, but I wonder how many classes are simply written for a
system specific task and never re-used?

 I can think of only 2 classes I created in C++ that I used regularly, and
only one of them was used to derive a new class and add a few features.

If I understand Ada syntaxt correctly, it does not use the Class notation
but uses notation package with a tagged type ?

> Be ready for the strongly typed language there is. Types are the heart and
> soul of Ada. Once you get the type system right, the procedural code
almost
> writes itself.

Good :)

> Then take a leap of faith, or more likely an informed decision from the
> answers you are getting here.

I did :) I am finding the syntaxt relatively easier to pick up and have
already sussed how code segments are arranged in files, in a nice logical
order, I am still however going to try and learn this other language, and
since it is a well respected language in this group, I will name it as
Eiffel.

Why am I considering both and not just taking the good word of you all ?

This is no disrespect to you people, and if it causes offence then I am
sorry, but I need to keep an open mind and use both, funnily the syntax of
Ada and Eiffel are similar ( Please note I said similar not the same or
better :) )

Then perhaps not decide which one is best, but maybe see how each one can
help me solve problems in the best way.

If it turns out that I can get by using just one ( very doubtful) then I
shall, but I doubt this is likely, I guess understanding more than one tool
will not make me an expert with either tool, but will broaden my knowledge
in the general programming world hopefully.

> For static calls yes. For data coming in from outside, of course you have
to
> check. For dynamic calls, sometimes it's wise to check or handle.

I understand this now, it was design by contract that I misunderstood
thinking that it would handle external calls, but logically it cant I guess,
how can you prempt the unknown, sorry this was my stupidity :)

> Yes. The most impressive graphical stuff I've seen is

This is encouraging also.

> GLADE is your friend.

Ah yes Glade, and AdaGTK, this just gets better :)
>

> There is a public, gratis, GNAT and GPS. If you need professional support
> ask ACT or another consultancy/consultant for the prices.

I am not sure I will need such services yet, but it is also encouraging to
see that it is used commercially.

> Strictly to learn Ada GNAT and a good book suffices. AdaGide, GPS, Emacs,
> Notepad are all good editors. I guess using Gwindows can help practicing,
> but you will not *learn* more *Ada* from there than just from using the
> standard libraries.

I understand this, I was just scoping what is available, for future
references :)

> adaworld.com, adaic.org, ada-auth.org
>
> * * *
>
> I came from C to Ada 95 circa 10 years ago. It improved a lot both the
> quality of my software process, including productivity, and the quality of
> the products. When I was making the shift, I also tried other languages,
> including C++ and Java. I don't have a definite opinion on the quality of
> these languages vs. Ada, because I didn't advance my expertise in them. I
> only know Ada has been serving me well, and from continuing contacts with
> other languages and respective programmers of all level, I still haven't
> found any reason to change.


This is quite interesting, I have taken a similar path, except my background
is VB.

 I also tried Java thought it was the answer to everything, but soon found
this not to be the case, especially with very large Java apps where loading
would be slow and at times unresponsive, and was even worse if trying to run
any other programs at the same time.

However I think Java still serves as a better learning tool than VB for
instance, I have not to my knowledge heard of any educational institution
using Ada as a learning language in the UK.

Thanks everyone for all your answers and help, it is refreshing to post to a
group and receive such useful and qualifying answers.

Thanks also for the tip on the name :) Ada rather than ADA, I just read the
story about Lady Ada and now also understand where the name derives from.

Regards
Yeric