From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,ea8ea502d35ca2ce X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-05-04 10:18:58 PST Path: newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!nntp.news.xara.net!xara.net!gxn.net!server6.netnews.ja.net!server4.netnews.ja.net!news5-gui.server.ntli.net!ntli.net!news2-win.server.ntlworld.com.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "chris.danx" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada References: <9cukad$nn68@news-dxb> Subject: Re: Beginner's Language? X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Message-ID: Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 18:14:23 +0100 NNTP-Posting-Host: 62.253.10.89 X-Complaints-To: abuse@ntlworld.com X-Trace: news2-win.server.ntlworld.com 988996433 62.253.10.89 (Fri, 04 May 2001 18:13:53 BST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 04 May 2001 18:13:53 BST Organization: ntlworld News Service Xref: newsfeed.google.com comp.lang.ada:7170 Date: 2001-05-04T18:14:23+01:00 List-Id: "Faisal Halim" wrote in message news:9cukad$nn68@news-dxb... > Assalaamu 'alaikum, > > I would like to know if ADA is a good first language for a beginner, > especially when compared to Lisp and Perl, and BASIC. > > Despite my 'O' Level qualification in Computers, please assume you are > answering a person totally devoid of computer concepts, as I would find > such replies useful when answering queries from 7th grade students who are > interested in computers and programming, but have no idea of which language > to use. At the Glasgow Uni (or the University of Glasgow if you prefer) they use Ada 95 as a "first language". They assume no knowledge of programming at all (or indeed computing science). It seems to work well, many folks in my classes did very well with Ada 95 and they had zero programming experience. If this is for a study or something you might want to contact various people who teach Ada as a first language. At Glasgow you might want to try Dr Quitin Cutts, his research involves the teaching of programming to folk and the methods for doing so. He's quite good as a lecturer and he developed the structure of the IP1 course. I started with BASIC myself, and i think Ada would have been a lot better if i'd had it at the time. Ada 95 is more structured than BASIC which is something i'd have benefitted from. Switching to Turbo Pascal helped me develop more structured programs. It took Ada 95 to get organisation and modules right. While Pascal promotes some structure it doesn't offer as much support in this area as Ada 95, and BASIC offers hardly any (the infamous GOTO, and the somewhat better GOSUB). It has many other qualities and features that make it suitable for a first language and i'd like to give them a mention but my dinners arrived... Chris Campbell