An experiment in the use of Ada in course in software engineering

ABSTRACT

This paper describes our experience in using Ada as a vehicle for teaching Software Engineering concepts in a course for first year undergraduate students at the University of Montreal. We first review the curriculum at our university and then give an idea of the hardware and software at our disposition. We describe the goals we had in mind in using Ada as a teaching language and then we detail the topics and the assignments chosen in our course. We conclude by describing a few lessons learned from that experience. All in all, we are very satisfied with this experiment and we intend to carry on next year.

REFERENCES

• 1: Richard H. Austing , Bruce H. Barnes , Della T. Bonnette , Gerald L. Engel , Gordon Stokes, Curriculum '78: recommendations for the undergraduate program in computer science— a report of the ACM curriculum committee on computer science, Communications of the ACM, v.22 n.3, p.147-166, March 1979 [doi>10.1145/359080.359083]
• 2: Jagdish C. Agrawal , Alka R. Harriger, Undergraduate courses needed in Ada and software engineering, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.17 n.1, p.266-281, Mar. 1985
• 3: Gregory D. Buzzard , Trevor N. Mudge, Object-based computing and the ADA programming language, Computer, v.18 n.3, p.11-19, March 1985 [doi>10.1109/MC.1985.1662826]
• 4: Dahl, O.-J. , Myhrang, B., Nygaard, K. : Slmula-67 Common Base. Report 725, ~lorwegean Computing Center, 1982.
• 5: Howard Evans , Wayne Patterson, Implementing Ada as the primary programming language, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.17 n.1, p.255-265, Mar. 1985
• 6: Rudd, D. : Software Review of the Te}esoft Aria Version 1.3. IEEE Software, p. 99-100, May 1 985.
• 7: Telesoft Ada Compiler UserPs Manual. Telesoft, San Diego, May 1983.

INDEX TERMS

Classification:
  D. Software
  D.3 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
      D.3.2 Language Classifications

          Nouns: Ada

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Curriculum

General Terms:
Languages