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authorLuke A. Guest <laguest@archeia.com>2024-01-12 18:18:30 +0000
committerGitHub <noreply@github.com>2024-01-12 19:18:30 +0100
commitbfee8bccc6beee4ff5fc916af0fc89e7110c0324 (patch)
tree4f527fe79a6dd5f61956b1e5b3de2c8fa2bdf139 /ada.html.markdown
parenta57c72103d2c363392ff56882d85aa79f295c378 (diff)
[language/en] Add ada (#4821)
* Add initial Ada docs. * Change wording. * Update Empty. * Remove old comments which have been added to the code. Have one code block now. * Update source. * Add bash to the code block so I get syntax colouring in vscode. * Add extra on context clauses. * Update source. * Add loops. * Add a warning about the source. * Update source. * Add real-time to the description. * Add info on aspects/contracts. * Add links to RM. * Add string/character/array. * Update source. * Add new package. * Add extra info on what's left from Pascal. * Add fixed/floats. * Add link to the RM. Change wording. * Add distributed with link. * Fix typo. * Add a statement on package use. * Add extra info re the warnings. * Add more context re Pascal. * Separate paragraphs. * More clarification. * Fix typo. * Change aspect-oriented to contract-based. * Add about having to download the gnat toolchain. * Rejig paragraph. * Add the extra run commands. * Add Fer's changes. * Fix typo. * Remove extraneous ---, don't know how that got there. * Fix filename. * Remove extra comment. * Remove another empty comment. * Add back in the generic Swap which was removed for some reason. * Correction on style. GNAT definition added. * Fix definition of starting index of strings. * Add extra context and examples for String initialisation. * Remove line to install the toolchain. Add note about this. * Add https://learn.adacore.com as a link. * Add Fabien's contributor link for the extra context added in the previous commits. * Fix typos. Add better explanations. * Add info on limited types. * Fix typos. * Add explanation of the generic parameter. * Add a location of where I referenced OOP. * Fix text. * Remove markdown from comments. * Remove comma.
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+---
+language: Ada
+filename: learn.ada
+contributors:
+ ["Luke A. Guest", "https://github.com/Lucretia"]
+ ["Fernando Oleo Blanco", "https://github.com/Irvise"]
+ ["Fabien Chouteau", "https://github.com/Fabien-Chouteau"]
+ ["Manuel", "https://github.com/mgrojo"]
+---
+
+Ada is a strong statically typed imperative, [object-oriented](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-3/AA-3.9), [real-time](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-D), [parallel](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-9) and [distributed](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-9) programming language from the Pascal/Algol family of languages, but nowadays, it only has a passing resemblance to Pascal, with the only remnants left being the ```begin/end``` keyword pair, the ```:=``` assignment symbol, records and ```if/case``` control statement structures.
+
+Ada was originally designed to be an [object-based](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-3/AA-3.3) language and to replace 100's of languages in use by the US government. This means that all entities are objects, not in the object-oriented sense. The language became [Object-Oriented](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-3/AA-3.9) in 1995, and added [interfaces](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-3/AA-3.9#Subclause_3.9.4) derived from Java in 2005. [Contract based](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-13/AA-13.1#Subclause_13.1.1) programming was introduced with Ada 2012.
+
+Ada was designed to be easy to read and learn, even for non-programmers, e.g. management within an organisation, therefore programs written in the language tend to be a bit more verbose.
+
+Ada is a modern programming language, and now has a package manager like other modern languages, Alire, see below.
+
+```ada
+-- Comments are written with a double hyphen and exist until the end of
+-- the line.
+
+-- You do not need to call the entry point "Main" or "main," you should
+-- name it based on what the program does.
+procedure Empty is
+ -- This is a declarative part.
+begin
+ -- Statements go here.
+ null; -- Do nothing here.
+end Empty;
+
+-- Ada compilers accept compilation units which can be library packages,
+-- tasks, sub-programs, generics, etc.
+
+-- This is where "context clauses" go, these can be pragmas or "with"
+-- statements. "with" is equivalent to "include" or "import" in other
+-- languages.
+with Ada.Text_IO; -- Get access to a library package.
+
+procedure Hello is
+begin
+ Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ("Hello, world");
+
+ Ada.Text_IO.Put ("Hello again, world");
+ Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
+end Hello;
+
+
+-- Ada has a real module system. Modules are called packages and are split into
+-- two component parts, the specification and a body.
+-- It is important to introduce packages early, as you will be using them from
+-- the start.
+package Stuff is
+ -- We could add the following line in order to tell the compiler that this
+ -- package does not have to run any code before the "main" procedure starts.
+ -- pragma Preelaborate;
+
+ -- Packages can be nested within the same file or externally.
+ -- Nested packages are accessed via dot notation, e.g. Stuff.Things.My.
+ package Things is
+ My : constant Integer := 100;
+ end Things;
+
+ -- If there are sub-programs declared within the specification, the body
+ -- of the sub-program must be declared within the package body.
+ procedure Do_Something; -- If a subprogram takes no parameters, empty
+ -- parentheses are not required, unlike other
+ -- languages.
+
+ -- We can also make generic sub-programs.
+ generic
+ type Element is (<>); -- The "(<>)" notation specifies that only
+ -- discrete types can be passed into the generic.
+ procedure Swap (Left, Right : in out Element);
+
+ -- Sometimes we want to hide how a type is defined from the outside world
+ -- so that nobody can mess with it directly. The full type must be defined
+ -- within the private section below.
+ type Blobs is private;
+
+ -- We can also make types "limited" by putting this keyword after the "is"
+ -- keyword, this means that the user cannot copy objects of that type
+ -- around, like they normally could.
+private
+ type Blobs is new Integer range -25 .. 25;
+end Stuff;
+
+
+package body Stuff is
+ -- Sub-program body.
+ procedure Do_Something is
+ -- We can nest sub-programs too.
+ -- Parameters are defined with the direction of travel, in, in out, out.
+ -- If the direction of travel is not specified, they are in by default.
+ function Times_4 (Value : in Integer) return Integer is
+ begin
+ return Value * 4;
+ end Times_4;
+
+ I : Integer := 4;
+ begin
+ I := Times_4 (I);
+ end Do_Something;
+
+
+ -- Generic procedure body.
+ procedure Swap (Left, Right : in out Element) is
+ Temp : Element := Left;
+ begin
+ Left := Right;
+ Right := Temp;
+ end Swap;
+begin
+ -- If we need to initialise something within the package, we can do it
+ -- here.
+ Do_Something;
+end Stuff;
+
+
+with Ada.Unchecked_Conversion;
+with Ada.Text_IO;
+with Stuff;
+
+procedure LearnAdaInY is
+ -- Indentation is 3 spaces.
+
+ -- The most important feature in Ada is the type. Objects have types and an
+ -- object of one type cannot be assigned to an object of another type.
+
+ -- You can, and should, define your own types for the domain you are
+ -- modelling. But you can use the standard types to start with and then
+ -- replace them later with your own types, this could be called a form of
+ -- gradual typing.
+
+ -- The standard types would only really be a good starting point for binding
+ -- to other languages, like C. Ada is the only language with a standardised
+ -- way to bind with C, Fortran and COBOL! See the links in the References
+ -- section with more information on binding to these languages.
+
+ type Degrees is range 0 .. 360; -- This is a type. Its underlying
+ -- representation is an Integer.
+
+ type Hues is (Red, Green, Blue, Purple, Yellow); -- So is this. Here, we
+ -- are declaring an
+ -- Enumeration.
+
+ -- This is a modular type. They behave like Integers that automatically
+ -- wrap around. In this specific case, the range would be 0 .. 359.
+ -- If we added 1 to a variable containing the value 359, we would receive
+ -- back 0. They are very useful for arrays.
+ type Degrees_Wrap is mod 360;
+
+ -- You can restrict a type's range using a subtype, this makes them
+ -- compatible with each other, i.e. the subtype can be assigned to an
+ -- object of the type, as can be seen below.
+ subtype Primaries is Hues range Red .. Blue; -- This is a range.
+
+ -- You can define variables or constants like this:
+ -- Var_Name : Type := Value;
+
+ -- 10 is a universal integer. These universal numerics can be used with
+ -- any type which matches the base type.
+ Angle : Degrees := 10;
+ Value : Integer := 20;
+ -- New_Angle : Degrees := Value; -- Incompatible types won't compile.
+ -- New_Value : Integer := Angle;
+
+ Blue_Hue : Primaries := Blue; -- A variable.
+ Red_Hue : constant Primaries := Red; -- A constant.
+ Yellow_Hue : constant Hues := Yellow;
+ Colour_1 : constant Hues := Red_Hue;
+ -- Colour_2 : constant Primaries := Yellow_Hue; -- uncomment to compile.
+
+ -- You can force conversions, but then you are warned by the name of the
+ -- package that you may be doing something unsafe.
+ function Degrees_To_Int is new Ada.Unchecked_Conversion
+ (Source => Degrees, -- Line continuations are indented by 2 spaces.
+ Target => Integer);
+
+ New_Value_2 : Integer := Degrees_To_Int (Angle); -- Note, space before (.
+
+ -- GNAT is the GNU Ada Translator (compiler).
+ -- Ada has a style guide and GNAT will warn you to adhere to it, and has
+ -- option to check your style so that you can correct it so that all Ada
+ -- source looks consistent. However, the style can be customized.
+
+ -- Yes, you can even define your own floating and fixed point types, this
+ -- is a very rare and unique ability. "digits" refers to the minimum
+ -- digit precision that the type should support. "delta" is for fixed
+ -- point types and refers to the smallest change that the type will support.
+ type Real_Angles is digits 3 range 0.0 .. 360.0;
+ type Fixed_Angles is delta 0.01 digits 5 range 0.0 .. 360.0;
+
+ RA : constant Real_Angles := 36.45;
+ FA : constant Fixed_Angles := 360.0; -- ".0" in order to make it a Float.
+
+ -- You can have normal Latin 1 based strings by default.
+ Str : constant String := "This is a constant string";
+ -- When initialising from a string literal, the compiler knows the bounds,
+ -- so we don't have to define them.
+
+ -- Strings are arrays. Note how parentheses are used to access elements of
+ -- an array? This is mathematical notation and was used because square
+ -- brackets were not available on all keyboards at the time Ada was
+ -- created. Also, because an array can be seen as a function from a
+ -- mathematical perspective, so it made converting between arrays and
+ -- functions easier.
+ Char : constant Character := Str (Str'First); -- "'First" is a type
+ -- attribute.
+
+ -- Ada 2022 includes the use of [] for array initialisation when using
+ -- containers, which were added in Ada 2012.
+
+ -- Arrays are usually always defined as a type.
+ -- They can be any dimension.
+ type My_Array_1 is array (1 .. 4, 3 .. 7, -20 .. 20) of Integer;
+
+ -- Yes, unlike other languages, you can index arrays with other discrete
+ -- types such as enumerations and modular types or arbitrary ranges.
+ type Axes is (X, Y, Z);
+
+ -- You can define the array's range using the 'Range attribute from
+ -- another type.
+ type Vector is array (Axes'Range) of Float;
+
+ V1 : constant Vector := (0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
+
+ -- A record is the same as a structure in C, C++.
+ type Entities is record
+ Name : String (1 .. 10); -- Always starts at a positive value,
+ -- inclusive range.
+ Position : Vector;
+ end record;
+
+ -- In Ada, array bounds are immutable. You therefore have to provide a
+ -- string literal with a value for every character.
+ E1 : constant Entities := ("Blob ", (0.0, 0.0, 0.0));
+
+ -- An alternative is to use an array aggregate and assign a default value
+ -- to every element that wasn't previously assigned in this aggregate.
+ -- "others" is used to indicate anything else that has not been
+ -- explicitly initialized.
+ E2 : constant Entities := (('B', 'l', 'o', 'b', others => ' '),
+ (0.0, 0.0, 0.0));
+
+ -- There are dynamic length strings (see references section) available in
+ -- the standard library.
+
+ -- We can make an object be initialised to its default values with the box
+ -- notation, "<>". "others" is used to indicate anything else that has not
+ -- been explicitly initialized.
+ Null_Entity : constant Entities := (others => <>);
+
+ -- Object-orientation is accomplished via an extension of record syntax,
+ -- tagged records, see link above in first paragraph.
+
+ -- We can rename objects (aliases) to make readability a bit better.
+ package IO renames Ada.Text_IO;
+begin
+ -- We can output enumerations as names.
+ IO.Put_Line ("Blue_Hue = " & -- & is the string concatenation operator.
+ Blue'Image); -- ' accesses attributes on objects.
+ -- The Image attribute converts a value to a string.
+ -- Ada 2022 has extended Image to custom types too.
+ -- Access this with -gnat2022 compiler flag.
+ IO.Put_Line ("Yellow_Hue = " &
+ -- We can use the type's attribute.
+ Primaries'Image (Yellow_Hue));
+
+ -- We can define local variables within a declare block, this can be made
+ -- more readable by giving it a label.
+ Enum_IO : declare
+ package Hue_IO is new IO.Enumeration_IO (Hues);
+
+ -- Using a package makes everything inside that package visible within
+ -- this block, it is good practice to only do this locally and not on
+ -- a whole package within the context clause.
+ use Hue_IO;
+ begin
+ -- We can print out the enumeration values too.
+ Put (Purple); -- Note we don't have to prefix the Put procedure with
+ -- Hue_IO.
+ IO.New_Line; -- We still need to prefix with IO here.
+ Put (Red_Hue);
+ IO.New_Line;
+ end Enum_IO;
+
+ -- Loops have a consistent form. "<form> loop ... end loop".
+ -- Where "form" can be "while" or "for" or missing as below, if
+ -- you place the "loop ... end loop;" construct on their own lines,
+ -- you can comment out or experiment with different loop constructs more
+ -- easily.
+ declare
+ Counter : Positive := Positive'First; -- This is 1.
+ begin
+ -- We can label loops so we can exit from them more easily if we need to.
+ Infinite :
+ loop
+ IO.Put_Line ("[Infinite loop] Counter = " & Counter'Image);
+
+ Counter := Counter + 1;
+
+ -- This next line implements a repeat ... until or do ... while loop construct.
+ -- Comment it out for an infinite loop.
+ exit Infinite when Counter = 5; -- Equality tests use a single "=".
+ end loop Infinite; -- Useful when implementing state machines.
+ end;
+
+ declare -- We don't have to have a label.
+ Counter : Positive := Positive'First; -- This is 1.
+ begin
+ while Counter < 10
+ loop
+ IO.Put_Line ("Counter = " & Counter'Image);
+
+ Counter := Counter + 1; -- There is no explicit inc/decrement.
+
+ -- Ada 2022 introduced @ for LHS, so the above would be written as
+ -- Counter := @ + 1; -- Try it, -gnat2022.
+ end loop;
+ end;
+
+ declare
+ package Hue_IO is new IO.Enumeration_IO (Hues);
+
+ -- We can have multiple packages on one line, but I tend to use one
+ -- package per line for readability.
+ use IO, Hue_IO;
+ begin
+ Put ("Hues : "); -- Note, no prefix.
+
+ -- Because we are using the 'Range attribute, the compiler knows it is
+ -- safe and can omit run-time checks here.
+ for Hue in Hues'Range
+ loop
+ Put (Hue);
+
+ -- Types and objects know about their bounds, their First .. Last
+ -- values. These can be specified as range types.
+ if Hue /= Hues'Last then -- The /= means "not equal to" like the
+ -- maths symbol ≠.
+ Put (", ");
+ end if;
+ end loop;
+
+ IO.New_Line;
+ end;
+
+ -- All objects know their bounds, including strings.
+ declare
+ C : Character := Str (50); -- Warning caused and exception raised at
+ -- runtime.
+ -- The exception raised above can only be handled by an outer scope,
+ -- see wikibook link below.
+ begin
+ null; -- We will never get to this point because of the above.
+ end;
+exception
+ when Constraint_Error =>
+ IO.Put_Line ("Caught the exception");
+end LearnAdaInY;
+```
+
+Now, that's a lot of information for a basic intro to Ada, and I've only touched the surface, there's much more to look at in the references section below. I haven't even touched on dynamic memory allocation which includes [pools](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-13/AA-13.11), this is because for the most part, Ada programs don't need it, you can do a lot without it.
+
+As I stated above, Ada barely looks like Pascal and if you look at the original [Green specification](https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/trecms/pdf/ADB950587.pdf) (Warning: Huge 4575 page scanned PDF - starting on page 460), it looks nothing like it at all (page 505 of that PDF).
+
+The above source code will compile, but also will give warnings showing the power of the strong static type system.
+
+## Download this source
+
+If you already have the GNAT toolchain installed, you can cut and paste the above into a new file, e.g. ```learn-ada-in-y.ada``` and then run the following:
+
+```bash
+$ gnatchop learn-ada-in-y.ada # This breaks the program into its specification ".ads" and body ".adb".
+$ gnatmake empty.adb # gnatmake takes care of compilation of all units and linking.
+$ gnatmake hello.adb
+$ gnatmake learnadainy.adb
+```
+
+Or, download [Alire](https://alire.ada.dev), copy it to somewhere in your PATH and then do the following:
+
+**N.B.** Alire will automatically install the toolchain for you if you don't have one installed and will ask you to select which you want to use.
+
+```bash
+$ alr search learnadainy
+$ alr get learnadainy
+$ cd learnadainy
+$ alr run empty
+$ alr run hello
+$ alr run learnadainy
+```
+
+## Further Reading
+
+* [Ada Programming Language](https://ada-lang.io)
+* [Ada 2022 Reference Manual](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm)
+* [Ada Style Guide](https://ada-lang.io/docs/style-guide/Ada_Style_Guide)
+* [Learn more Ada/Spark at AdaCore's site](https://learn.adacore.com)
+
+## References from the source above
+
+1. [wikibook](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ada_Programming/Exceptions#Exception_handlers)
+2. [C](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-B/AA-B.3)
+3. [Fortran](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-B/AA-B.5/)
+4. [COBOL](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-B/AA-B.4/)
+5. [dynamic length strings](https://ada-lang.io/docs/arm/AA-A/AA-A.4#Subclause_A.4.5)
+
+### Multi-line comments
+
+Multi-line comments are not allowed as they are error prone.
+
+> Such comments would require a closing comment delimiter and this would again raise the dangers associated with the (unintentional) omission of the closing delimiter: entire sections of a program could be ignored by the compiler without the programmer realizing it
+>
+> [Ada 83 Rationale](http://archive.adaic.com/standards/83rat/html/ratl-02-01.html#2.1)
+