Fall 1996 Spotlight
Ada as a Second Language, 2/e
by Norman H. Cohen
Encyclopedic in scope, this is the second edition of Cohen's detailed presentation of Ada, updated for Ada 95. It is an excellent tutorial introduction and reference to Ada for programmers experienced in another language. It is also useful for those who come from Ada 83 (each chapter ends with a section addressed to users of Ada 83 compilers). Comparisons with C, C+, Cobol, Fortran, and Pascal avoid misconceptions about Ada. The entire language and predefined libraries are covered in 20 chapters and 5 annexes; the index helps to make it a true reference tool, to which one can and will regularly turn. The book contains hundreds of examples and suggests many exercises. The author is a widely known and respected expert in the language; don't miss this book. (1133 pages, 1996)
See also: Ada 95 book reviews
Prices & orders: softcover *** ($65.00)

Programming in Ada 95
by John Barnes
This is a new book written by John Barnes in a style similar to his successful "Programming in Ada" (83) book. The author has written major parts of the Ada 95 Rationale (as well as being co-author of the Ada 83 Rationale) and brings his considerable expertise to a complete but pleasant, and at times funny, presentation of Ada 95. The book contains many coding exercises and includes answers in the back. (702 pages, 1996)
See also: Ada 95 book reviews
Prices & orders: softcover ** ($44.10)

Software Construction and Data Structures With Ada 95
by Michael B. Feldman
This book introduces the concepts of a number of classical data structures and their applications, using the power and flexibility of Ada 95, essentially with encapsulation and reusable generics (ADT packages) and object-orientation. Structures covered are mainly: sets, queues, stacks, linked lists, directed graphs, trees (binary and more), hashing, and internal sorting. The writing style is informal, thus avoiding heavy mathematical notation, but "big O" analysis and trade-offs of time vs. space and speed vs. abstraction are emphasized throughout. A virtue of this book is that many real-world applications illustrate practical uses of data structures and ADTs. Over 200 packages and programs, portable to all Ada 95 compilers, are presented, but sometimes implementations are "left as an exercise to the reader." The book assumes a basic knowledge of Ada; it is intended for use in undergraduate CS courses but is also suitable for self-study. The 15 chapters each end with a list of suggested exercises, and are complemented by annexes that summarize the language syntax and predefined entities, as well as a short bibliography. Surprinsingly, chapter 15 is a brief introduction to concurrent programming. (1996)
See also: Ada 95 book reviews
Prices & orders: softcover ** ($49.45)

Ada 95 Reference Manual: Language and Standard Libraries
ed. by S.T. Taft and R.A. Duff
This manual is essentially identical to ISO/IEC 8652:1995(E), the new international standard for the programming language Ada. It replaces the former standard ISO 8652:1987 for Ada 83. For lasting value, this book is printed on acid-free paper. (548 pages, 1997)
See also: Ada Home book review (July 1997) and DocAda
Prices & orders: softcover *** ($54.95)

Ada 95 Rationale: The Language, The Standard Libraries
ed. by John Barnes
This book is an excellent companion to the Ada 95 reference manual and language standard. It introduces Ada 95 and its powerful new mechanisms, and explains the rationale behind them. Ideal for study in parallel with the reference manual, it is of value for all serious users of Ada. For lasting value, this book is printed on acid-free paper. (474 pages, 1997)
See also: Ada Home book review (July 1997) and DocAda
Prices & orders: softcover ** ($49.95)

Concurrency In Ada
by Alan Burns and Andy Wellings
Written by world-reknowned real-time experts Burns and Wellings, this book describes in detail how to take advantage of the concurrency, real-time, and distributed systems features of Ada 95. Further, the authors masterfully show how to integrate Ada's object-oriented mechanisms with concurrency. There are 15 chapters and a short list of references. Essential reading for practitioners who develop concurrent and real-time applications. (396 pages, 1995 -- paperback 1997)
See also: Ada Home book review (December 1997) and Ada 95 book reviews
Prices & orders: softcover ** ($27.95)

Data Structures and Algorithms: An Object-Oriented Approach Using Ada 95
by John Beidler
This book introduces classical data structures and algorithms, with a strong emphasis on object-orientation. Abstraction, encapsulation, representation, iterators, and basic measurements form the cornerstone of the presentation. Structures cover: stacks, queues, lists, trees, graphs, sets and strings; algorithms cover: sorting and searching. The writing style is informal, almost like a narrative. The book assumes a basic knowledge of Ada. The 12 chapters each end with suggestions for exercises and further explorations. Contains a bibliography and an index. The software components are available over the Internet. (364 pages, 1997)
Prices & orders: hardcover *** ($54.95)