Ada Distilled: An Introduction to Ada Programming for Experienced Computer Programmers

This book is aimed at experienced programmers who want to learn Ada at the programming level.
It is not a "...for dummies" book, nor is it intended as a program design book. Instead, we
highlight some key features of the Ada language, with coded examples, that are essential for
getting started as an Ada programmer.
Ada is a rich and flexibile language used for designing large-scale software systems. This book
emphasizes syntax, control structures, subprogram rules, and how-to coding issues rather than
design issues. There are other really fine books available that deal with design. Also, this is not a
comprehensive treatment of the Ada language. The bibliography lists some books that can help
you once you have finished the material in this book.
Think of this a quick-start book, one that enables you, the experienced programmer, to get into the
Ada language quickly and easily. The examples use text-oriented programs for simplicity of
learning. If you prefer to do the exercises for a GUI environment, check out the sites listed for
compilers and tools so you can download bindings for programming in a variety of windowing
environments, including Wintel, Linux, and Unix. Of particular interest to those wanting to
explore Window style programming are GtkAda, CLAW, GWindows, and JEWL. The last of
these, JEWL, is especially useful if you have no prior experience writing Windows programs.