Computer Science (intelligence Central)

That's a good point actually. We should of teamed up and written a text book on how to run a football club and given it to Gino for Christmas. Could of signed the inside cover with quotes from the forum members about how he's done these past five/six years.

I'll have to look out for their books then.

 

I pondered that but when I took that away Word flagged it as incorrect. I suppose because it's a wordy title the assumption is it forms a sentence (which is what it is) hence why the full stop is necessary. But I do get your angle as well. I think it's probably correct either way, it just depends on how you read it.

 

This is what the working code will look like on the pages. Again, early prototypes here but I like the highlight background, stands out from the standard white. Using 'Consolas' as the font type makes it look more PC

 

I agree. Having one in colour and one in black and white print is always an option going forward. Black and white is the general rule, if they do well enough than a colour print can be put forward later on.

 

Reason I chose red for and blue was to make the name of the language stand out from the book theme. 2021 is the current standard version of the language and I wanted that to stand out with the language name. I can always change the colours to blend more. I guess with the strapline I wanted to make sure people knew the target audience (beginners) before the even opened the book up.

Yes the code would be the very first Ada program a beginner would write. In the actual text, each statement would be discussed in more detail so people understand what they mean and how they operate. Comments are generally always pretty heavy going on an initial program but further along most of the programs only have comments at the top and before complex pieces of logic. I think you make a good point though, it's always better to suspend your usage of comments in any program. I've seen some actual video game code with comments splashed all over it. I've always had a personal rule of thumb to only comment if I personally might need prompting what something does when I go back and read it.

 

So I've been working on my cover art for my text book and I decided to ditch the other one as it was too "noisy". I've come up with a much cleaner version. With a lighter font and background.
Lol the forum background is slightly darker than the cover image colour Didn't expect that! Well, the main details are still visible at least so you can guess the colour that I have gone with. Thoughts?

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I did that so the version and the language name stand out from each other.

Correct, it is 2022 but the version of the text book I am writing uses aspects from 2012 and some of them pre-date the newer standard. It's done with other languages as well. C++ for example has books on versions that are before the current standard. 2021 was the concept year of the new standard before the ISO standardized it in 2022.

Correct. I send the concept and they can modify it (they send me information to get my approval on any major changes). It's not scheduled for release until late September 2025 and the new Ada standard takes about ten or so years to release, so any code I've written for the book is still valid for a long time and even after that date. I've worked with OUP before and they are very professional.

 

Have been sent the first sample of what a page of my book will look like by OUP. I quite like it myself. This is the black and white version of the book to enable colourblind readers to understand it. As I'm the author it is always encouraging to get any early feedback on possible changes from a reader. Would you consider this sample adequate and readable with the layout and format style of the source code?

 

Yes I understand the italics issue. I would of used bold font on them but the Ada language keywords need to fully standout in the sample code. One other option might be putting them in quotations perhaps? Something like "record" and "package". That could be an alternative option.

That's really interesting, I've never heard of that before and it's excellent that companies are working hard to help people with difficulties. It could well be an issue as the final cut off date for the printing gets nearer so it is something I will keep in mind and mention it to OUP via email.

 

Lol good idea. I guess I could email him the final draft and he can double check OUP work on proof reading.

 

Makes me want to dig out my old Amiga 1200 and have a little cry. They were the medium for many years and served their purpose well. I remember installing Visual Studio 6.0 back in the late 1990's. Six floppy discs. Time has moved on, even software on CD is becoming more and more obsolete. Digital is taking over which was to be expected, the download speeds of the modern Internet are so much faster than the reads of even the best optical drive.

We will always have the memories.

 

To be honest the difference between the systems is very small by today's margins. I did have an external disc drive so I could handle games with two discs though. Rainbow Islands kicked my ass as a kid, and still kicks my ass now as an adult. Never did past Robot Island without a cheat code, and even then getting the "secret islands" where you have to collect all the gems in the colours of the rainbow was very frustrating. Dracula boss of island three was a nightmare.

One of the best paint programs was Deluxe Paint I think? I also loved the "insert disc" screen. and the fact to add cheats you had to code them yourself. "Pokes" they were called.