Rick,

You mistake birth rate for palse rate!  I will grant you that
the Ada birth rate is lower than that for Visual .., Java,
or Software Engineering.  However, IMO, the Ada community (having
survived the the downsizing DoD market and the end of the
"mandate") is alive and growing.  Granted, its growth is slower
that most of us would like to see.

The types of books in bookstores represents areas where there
is sufficient market to justify putting them there.  The market
for books is mostly to people starting out in a given subject area.
The fact that more people are interested in Software Engineering
is a good sign for Ada's future.

There are plenty of Ada books out there to support the present
Ada community.  You just have to order them.  What the Ada community
is losing out on is the opportunity to promote the language to new
programmers who go to the bookstore to "learn how to develop xyz
type application using Ada."  Where you see Ada books on the
shelf it's generally where there is a university teaching Ada or
using it in one or more of their classes.

Rush Kester
charter member Team Ada

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Conn [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, July 31, 2000 6:46 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Taking a pulse of the Ada and Software Engineering
> communities
>
>
> Hi, Everyone,
>
> I took a little trip this weekend to local computer stores
> and book stores, in part to take a pulse of the presence of
> Ada and Software Engineering materials in the public view.
> While this is a small sample, it may be interesting to hear
> if others have the same observations:
>
>   1. Ada books are gone from the shelves.  Zero.  I read into
>      this that computer stores and book stores no longer find
>      it profitable to carry them.
>   2. Ada compilers and tools are also not present - with one
>      exception.  I found copies of my Ada and Software
>      Engineering Library CDROMs.
>   3. The number of Software Engineering books has increased
>      from the last time I looked - I saw 8 different titles,
>      5 of which were published by Microsoft Press.
>   4. Outside of the commercial sector, I found a couple of
>      Ada books in two local university bookstores.  I also
>      found Ada and Software Engineering Library CDROMs there.
>
> The pulse looks pretty weak,
> Rick
> ====================================
> Richard Conn, Principal Investigator
> Reuse Tapestry