Customer Reviews

Programming in Ada 95 (International Computer Science Series)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

John Barnes' book is a very easy to read, complete coverage of a powerful language. The book is intended for those with some knowledge of programming, providing both details and, especially, rationale for the language features.

Explaining the rationale and possible use of language features is, in fact, the best aspect of the book, and has long been a characteristic of Barnes' writing. So many books in this category simply reiterate syntax and semantics; read this book and you will *understand* Ada as well as recognize it.

If you pay attention there is even subtle humor strewn throughout, making an otherwise potentially dry subject a pleasure to read about.

As a long-time Ada developer and a provider of industrial Ada-related courses, I strongly recommend this book to those who have no prior experience with the Ada language. As the owner of over forty books on the subject (including both editions of this one!) I rate this second edition in the top handful of all books concerning the Ada language.

Man, these Ada books are expensive! But this was 1/2 of most others. The paperback cover is kinda flimsy, but it'll just make me look like a more experienced programmer as it gets doggeard '-)

I'm a long time C++'er but knew nothing about Ada, which 95% of my new job involves. So I needed something to bring me up to speed quickly. I find this book very readable and pretty well organized. The first few chapters teach you the 10% you'll use 90% of the time and the other 90%, if you need it, is covered in depth later in the book. I think those that don't like this book probably don't like Ada (but who does?) because I find this book great, Ada is just a tough language that you just can hack with like C++.

I'm very pleased with this "bargan" book and think it'll be the only Ada book I'll need to buy. Strongly recommend

If you believe all the bad reviews you've read about this book...don't! Anyone who thinks this book is hard to read and should only be used by experienced programmers probably shouldn't even be trusted to tie their own shoes. I didn't know a thing about Ada before buying this book and after reading it I feel I know as much as Mr. Barnes himself. The history of Ada83 and Ada95 - as well as OO programming - is well-organized and top-notch. The sections clearly mark differences between Ada83 and Ada95. It has numerous real-world examples which are helpful for my every day applications. It's also a great progressive learning tool with numerous exercises at the end of each section.

This should be one of your books if you are really serious about Ada. The author was one of the leaders of the small team that actually designed the Ada language and does a great job of presenting the essentials of the language in a easy to read format. While more complete examples would have helped, this is still the book you want to have on your desk when creating an Ada program. It should not, however, be the only book. Ada is a complex and beautiful language - it helps to see it from more than one view. Many reviewers of this book who gave it a poor score appear to be students or people who don't like the language in any case. If you don't see the value of learning Ada, no book will help that much. Some reviewers could not even spell the language (i.e. it is Ada, named after Ada Lovelace Byron, not ADA as in the American Dental Association). Ada is not as highly used as some other languages but is still a very popular language in certain segments and can provide a rewarding career for the serious student. I have been steadily employed for over 10 years using only Ada and have no trouble making a six figure income. I certainly don't see Ada as a 'dead language'!

I learned Ada 83 years ago with the help of an earlier version of this book. I have recently been continuing this pattern with Ada 95. Mr. Barnes does a great job explaining the subject matter, without getting bogged down in minutiae. The code examples and exercises are also quite helpful. I highly recommend this book.

Although it has a tendency to be dry, it does a very good job of explaining each part of Ada in such a way that it can be understood by the non-ada person.

A great book to deepen your knowledge on Ada95. I would recommend to start learning Ada95 with another book but after doing your first steps this one will be a great help in improving your Ada skills

If you really want to understand the Rationale behind Ada95, this book is a must read. It is not for beginners in programming, but experienced programmers- even if they don't know Ada - will learn a lot from this book. They will never have the same look at their favourite primary programming language, even if it is already Ada.

This is an excellent book. It looks like most of the people who didn't like this book are more biased against the Ada language. I come from a C++ and Java background and this book made me change to Ada95. Also, Ada is NOT a dead language. It is being extensively used in my company and the companies we are in contract with. Also, I have worked on projects in Ada in a couple of different countries..so it is being used worldwide. It is a dead language to people with a bad knowledge of the facts and who have a tendency to blame their tools more often than not. This book is a must have for all Ada95(The only standardized Object Oriented Language) programmers. It is great book for a great language...no questions asked. Also, people destined to get DeadEnd jobs will get them whether they know Ada or not.

One (of course, anonymous) reviewer wrote, "How I wishthere were an 'ADA for Idiots' book". Frankly, I find far toomany programming books that attempt to water down a language. John Barnes's book is definitely not one of these. "Programming in Ada95" is one of my all-time favorite programming books, challenging as well as a blast to read. Alas, it was not written for idiots whom are too cowardly to place their names when they malign an outstanding work. If you are a real programmer, you will find this book a treasure even if you are a beginner. You will grow into it over time and you will be a better coder for it. Be brave and dare to be excellent, or find another occupation. By the way, it is Ada, not ADA...