Re: ADA made me hate programming

[anon@anon.org]

In <alpine.LRH.2.00.1007011416040.12027@64bit-RedHat-Enterprise-Linux6beta>, Colin Paul Gloster <Colin_Paul_Gloster@ACM.org> writes:
>On Thu, 1 Jul 2010, anon@anon.org alleged:
>
>|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
>|"[..]                                                                |
>|                                                                     |
>|APL/B/BCPL -- from late 50s .. late 70s                              |
>|                   replaced with  "C" aka newer version.             |
>|C/C++/D    -- from 74 .. Now.                                        |
>|           -- "D" is the newest version replaces C and C++           |
>|              "C++" is wide spread in all classes. C/C++ slowly      |
>|              replace all other older lang "Cobol" and "Fortran"     |
>|              in clasees.                                            |
>|              Also, due to fact that these lang are based on "APL"   |
>|              it makes the set, one of the OLDEST lang around.       |
>|              This 50+ year lang set should of died a few years ago."|
>|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
>
>APL is not related to any other language which you mentioned. Before
>APL2 it could not even be programmed with an
>AZWERTY/ASCII/EBDIC/QWERTY keyboard.

Before C/C++ most schools had a class for APL, then B, then BCPL.  They 
did not teach CPL because it was "too large for use in many applications"
or used in teaching class, and Algol was limited to large universities. 
Most local city colleges and small universities never used Algol.

Plus:
Reference: "The Development of the C Language" by Dennis M. Ritchie

        As for Algol, Ritchie states: "BCPL, B, and C all fit firmly 
in the traditional procedural family typified by Fortran and Algol 60."
He never states that Algol or Fortran was used to build C.

Never trust wiki, especially when it been alter just hours or days before.
Use as a unproven work of art. with some programming examples.
It better to find at least three other works, such as published work that you 
can download freely or purchase.

>
>|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
>|"Ada   83 .. 98  -- only taught in gov't sponsor classes. Teacher   |
>|                   had to be certified in Ada before 98.            |
>|      After 98  -- problem is, not enough teachers that know Ada"   |
>|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
>
>What was so special about 98?

For Ada after 98. Officially in Nov 98 the gov't DOD drop direct control of 
Ada design and support for the US gov't.  Congress was not happy!

For a school to receive a check from the DOD the prof. had to be 
certified aka approved by the DOD to teach Ada until Nov 1998.
And until 1998 most schools did not teach Ada without that DOD 
check. NYU use the checks to aid the creation of GPL Ada compiler 
that we call GNAT. 

After 98, most Ada programmers were working in the CS field instead of 
teaching. And the teachers following what the local area companies wanted
aka C and Java, instead of Ada.

>
>|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
>|"Languages that are for net and have little to no interest to main  |
>|stream programers that want to deal with the native CPU.            |
>|                                                                    |
>|[..]"                                                               |
>|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
>
>Web and/or GUI (but not native CPU) programming is mainstream.

First, Web designer are like C programmers a dime will get you a dozen.
Plus, the next generation web language will use gui imaging and voice 
instead of html or any other written lang. That what I meant by the gui.

As for native CPU, the one area that also use the inernet is game playing.  
But using Java is too slow and ties up the network with it built-in secuity 
controls for packages that require a continuous connect.  While native CPU 
programming, is faster and does not require all the secuity that Java uses.

But mainstream programming deals with a lot of areas that have nothing 
to do with the internet. Ada other than the java version has little to 
do with the web design.

Yes, there are Ada programming packages for networking but these packages 
are not define in the RM yet. Now, controlling a missile, robot, train (full size 
or model) does not require the internet or any gui.  They only require an I/O 
port or access to memory mapped cell to communicated to the devices and 
sensors.

And algorithms for calculating the weather or environmental impact studies
do not require the internet or GUI either.  The GUI makes it easier to give 
a picture or an idea of what going on but not as accuracy as a set of 
numbers can be.