The attribute mechanism is something a lot of languages would benefit from. Need...

kazagistar · on Dec 12, 2014

In Haskell, you have typeclass values. In other words, generic values.

    class Bounded a where
        minValue, maxValue :: a

So it is always the same constant, and it just changes value by what its type context is.

cjensen · on Dec 11, 2014

C++:

  numeric_limits<type>::max ()

kevin_thibedeau · on Dec 11, 2014

Ada attribute provide a lot more meta information about types and objects than just integer limits.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ada_Programming/Attributes

Some of these would be methods in modern OO languages but many are unique to Ada.

cjensen · on Dec 11, 2014

So does C++; both C++ and Ada have traits the other doesn't. Good ideas go around.

jmnicolas · on Dec 11, 2014

In C# you have Int32.MaxValue. I always assumed it was pretty standard everywhere.

Btw, Ada is on my list of languages to learn since 2011. I guess I will put it first on the 2015 good resolutions list :-)

claystu · on Dec 12, 2014

When you get started, here are the two books that seem to get recommended the most frequently:

Ada as A Second Language: http://amzn.com/0070116075

Programming in Ada 2005: http://amzn.com/0321340787

jmnicolas · on Dec 12, 2014

Thanks, I didn't know the first book but the second one has a more recent version covering Ada 2012.

claystu · on Dec 12, 2014

Interesting, I didn't realize there is a new edition:

Programming in Ada 2012 by John Barnes: http://amzn.com/110742481X

I wonder if ADA wouldn't be better if they were subtracting features rather than adding them.

cjensen · on Dec 12, 2014

I have an old copy of 'Ada as A Second Language'.

It's like a million pages. A second language handbook shouldn't be thicker than K&R. Do you know any short books that really assume I already know how to program?

claystu · on Dec 12, 2014

I don't know of any short books on Ada. Given the language, and the fact it's still growing, I doubt there are any.

krylon · on Dec 13, 2014

There is a Wikibook on Ada, although I cannot say anything about its quality.

Also, the Ada language standard and the rationale document are available for free. The standard is really more useful as a reference document, but it is surprisingly readable for a standards document.