Re: How Would a Hobbyist Learn Ada?

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

"Ludovic Brenta" <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org> wrote in message 
news:df8603e3-f095-416b-acc3-f15f128cbc71@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> This discussion and the related points made in "Access procedure to
> pointer" make me wonder how people who are now knowledgeable in Ada
> learned the language.

I was given an Ada subset as the language to implement for the compiler 
construction class at the University of Wisconsin (this was the 1980-81 
school year). At the time, I didn't know the language at all, and I don't 
think I did much programming in it the first year or so. We gradually 
expanded the subset (and moved the compiler to early PCs); I probably didn't 
really appreciate the eligance or advanced features until much later. After 
the first year, we ported the compiler into its own subset, and then I 
really learned how to program well in it. There weren't any books at the 
time (or we couldn't afford them - college students starting a business 
don't have much money - I recall that my 1982 income was $2400). I read some 
of the early textbooks later, and we used to sell copies of the Pyle book 
with the compiler.

(Aside: Eventually, we created our own textbook and matching video tape with 
Geoff Gilpin. The video tape tried to inject some humor into the talking 
heads approach of the other tapes we'd seen. Unfortunately, it nearly got 
Geoff killed. In the introduction to "exception handling", Geoff asked what 
would happen if a program divided by zero. What happened was that a Wile E. 
Coyote-style 10-ton weight fell onto Geoff and his computer. Of course, the 
prop was hollow so it covered him up completely. The first time they tried 
the scene, the thing floated down like a parachute. So they scrounged around 
the studio and came up with some weights to put on top of it. The next take, 
the thing came down with a bang and the wood frame shattered - leaving a 
nail a couple of inches from Geoff's forehead. I would have hated to have to 
explain that injury to the worker's compensation people... ;-) [However, 
that take looks great and was the one used on the final tape.] Humm, it 
would be nice to transcribe those from VHS tape to something digital, even 
though they would be much use these days (they're geared toward Ada 83 on 
MS-DOS). Could put them on our website or something.)

                                                  Randy.