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Each chapter summary begins with a few self-test questions. We suggest that you
consider them in numerical order so that when you click to see the answers, you won't
accidentally peek at the answers to upcoming questions. (Answers are listed below in
reverse order.)
Self-Test Questions
Click Q#-# to see answer |
| Q1-1 |
Which does Ada favor more: readers or writers? |
| Q1-2 |
What application domain was Ada originally intended for? |
| Q1-3 |
Is Ada a "pure OOP" language or a "hybrid" language? |
| Q1-4 |
What other language formed the base for Ada's original development? |
| Q1-5 |
What is the best general purpose programming language available today? |
|
Key points of this chapter
- Ada programs typically have a main procedure and make use of some packages (such as
Ada.Text_IO and Ada.Calendar) from the predefined environment.
- There are two kinds of context clause, the with clause and the use clause. The former is
of fundamental importance and establishes the dependency of one module upon another.
- Use clauses can be inserted to make code less verbose, but there are differences of
opinion among Ada programmers as to how much they should be used. Renaming clauses can be
inserted as a "middle way" of handling this stylistic issue.
- Ada modules are called program units. Every program unit is either a library unit or a
nested unit.(See more discussion in the next chapter.)
- The first version of Ada (Ada 83) was completely defined and achieved ANSI
standardization in 1983. It was named after Ada, the Countess of Lovelace, who is
considered the world's first computer programmer.
- The next version (Ada 95) achieved ANSI and ISO standardization in 1995, becoming the
first internationally standardized object oriented programming language.
- Ada is a hybrid, general-purpose language, originally intended for real-time embedded
systems.
- Ada was designed to favor readers over writers, and it provides several kinds of
compiler checking, which can greatly reduce debugging and integration efforts.
- Ada has built-in support for concurrency and synchronization.
- This volume of LearnAda was created to serve both as a tutorial and as a quick-reference
source.
Self-Test Answers |
| A1-5 |
There is no "best" language. The
choice of language for a particular project depends on many factors. (But, you can guess
what this author's favorite language is :-) |
| A1-4 |
Pascal, an excellent teaching language, formed the
original base for Ada. |
| A1-3 |
Ada is a hybrid language. It does not force
you to create only objects that fit into a grand inheritance hierarchy, but allows you to
create hierarchies of your own or to use or extend pre-existing ones. |
| A1-2 |
Ada was originally intended for the embedded,
real-time systems domain. |
| A1-1 |
Ada favors readers of programs over
writers of programs -- important for the maintenance of evolving systems. |
|
Click here to return to
questions |
Wrap-up Discussion
You have seen a few simple examples of Ada programs, and you have been introduced to a
number of key terms that are listed in the Glossary/Index. These include:
The next chapter focuses on the major program units (packages, procedures and
functions) and how they are constructed and connected together to create programs.
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