Many people agree that Pascal is a good starting language. But Pascal
is not a real language: if you want to use it for real proyects you
need tu buy some vendor solution and use his aditions to the language.
Moreover, Pascal is not a easy to learn language (irregularities in
the use of ; and other language constructions. Ada solves these
problems: you can use for starters a subset of the language that will
allow them to grow (and to use more features when needed). The syntax
is very regular. Compiler available for several platforms for free.

I do not think is a good FAQ reply, because it includes Pascal
criticism. But I think Ada is for starters as good as Pascal and has
some advantages.

I'm new in the list. We are using Ada in CS1 and CS2, for computer
science courses.


On Mon, 29 Nov 2004 10:00:51 -0500, David Botton <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I am surprised there have been no takers yet (ok, I know, turkey
> weekend, but still). I am hoping to use responses to build a better
> FAQ, articles, etc. The question was:
>
> Why should any one learn Ada as their first language?
>
> If we can't give a compelling answer to a question like that, we are in
> big trouble....
>
> David Botton
>


--
Fernando Tricas