Customer Reviews

Software Engineering with ADA (Benjamin/Cummings series in computing and information sciences)

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

 

 

Can't find the source code for the examples in the book. Didn't see a CD holder in the book either. It would be helpful to have these so to compile, port over, transport, etc.

That said, the book is very readable, although it does fall under the realm of "Software Engineering". I.e., lots of software engineering topics that slow one down if Ada is all they need. On the other hand, the software engineering principles were very useful and very well put. E.g., a summation of OO development was put forth as: "Identify the objects. Identify the operations. Establish the visibility. Establish the interface. Implement each object." You can't put it forth any easier than that. And it sticks too.

Steph

I am trying to do some quick refresher reading on ada for a job interview and this book has been sitting around unread since i went on an ada course 5 or so years ago. It would be less painful to swallow this book whole and pass it out the other end in the same state than read it. Its riddled with profound opinions on the philosophy behind the language and i skipped the first 4 chapters as irrelevant rubbish but still have the rest padded out excessively with this stuff instead of getting down to the actual language. I think I should have read the book I got back in 1983 written by the course lecturer instead even though it was published before the language was finalised

This was the first book I read back when Ada was brand new and so it holds a nostalgic place in my heart which saves it from a lower rating. It is not a good resource for learning Ada but it can help you break the procedural thinking mold and begin to think of the world as objects. It is not one of the better books on Ada or Software Engineering but you could do worse. My thoughts are with relation to the earliest edition but, from reading the other reviews, it sounds as though the 3rd edition is not a great improvement.

Note: Amazon doesn't allow ratings lower than 1 star.

I think I had the original of this book. I use the word "had", as I burnt it - the one positive contribution it made to my life was fifteen minutes of warmth. This edition's apologist tones on behalf of the Ada fraud were not only misleading to someone searching for better software engineering tools, but insulting to those who knew the awful truth and had to wrestle with it every day.

Booch knows *lots* about software engineering, but he sure didn't know s**t from shinola about progamming languages when he wrote this book. Either that or he was under contract by DoD to uncritically write it. Some especially noxious parts of the book look like they were lifted straight from the DoD LRM.

Of course everything may have been remedied with the 3rd edition and Ada 9x. Oh, and diamonds may come from my bum.

I found it readable and useful