goodenou@wanginst.UUCP (John Goodenough) (08/02/85)
I'm trying to collect data on error-prone features of Ada. In particular, I would like to hear about errors made by inexperienced Ada programmers (when the errors seem to be caused by features of the language rather than just inexperience on the part of the programmer). I'm also interested in hearing about errors that even more experienced programmers find hard to avoid. For example, even experienced Ada programmers, when writing a generic procedure, sometimes write: generic ... procedure GP is ... -- illegal People make this error because non-generic procedures can be declared directly using a body; generic procedures must be declared with a subprogram specification. The information I receive about these errors will be used in considering possible changes to Ada in a future revision of the language. The information will also be useful to those developing teaching materials for Ada or actually teaching Ada. If I get a good response, I'll report back in a month or so noting the kinds of errors reported and the number of people reporting each kind of error. As I receive additional info, I'll continue to report back periodically. Send me a message whenever you encounter one of these problems, since this will be a continuing project. Personal experiences, or observations while teaching Ada, are of greatest interest. Speculation about what might be an error-prone construct is not what I'm interested in; since people are beginning to use Ada now, real experiences will be the most instructive. Since the errors people make tend to vary depending on what languages they know before learning Ada, this will be useful background information. Here's what I'd like to see (ideally) in a usage error report: . a description of the kind of error, including a small example, e.g., like the one I gave for the generic subprogram error; . the programming language background of the programmer(s) that make this error (when relevant); . a statement of whether the error tends to be made just by beginning Ada programmers; . if not obvious, why you think people tend to make the kind of error you are reporting. If providing all this information looks like too much work, I'd be happy to receive just what you find convenient to provide. John B. Goodenough goodenou@wanginst (CSNET) Wang Institute of Graduate Studies decvax!wanginst!goodenou (UUCP) Tyng Road, Tyngsboro, MA 01879 617-649-9731 (at Wang Institute until 6/1/85)