Mike Shah a computer science professor who teaches programming topics, primarily modern C++, C, D, game, and computer graphics. He is also a former senior 3D Graphics Engineer who worked at several game and graphics companies. He also has a YouTube channel where he covers a variety of software development topics with a focus on D and C++.

Over the past several months, he has been exploring several alternative high performance languages as part his First Impressions series, devoting a full episode to each one. Instead of giving a canned presentation, he lets the audience ride along on his journey as he tries to uncover the language's capabilities while sharing his impressions along the way.

His latest episode #16 covers Ada, which should be exciting after already covering 15 of them:

🛠 Ada first steps on ∞ Arduino Due!

Exciting news! 📖 The first four chapters of a new course "Advanced Journey With Ada: A Flight In Progress" are now available. Dive into topics like Data Types, Control Flow, Modular Programming, Resource Management and more. Download the PDF or EPUB 📦 or better read online 🌐 and try examples live in your browser 🔧!

In this webinar, Yannick Moy outlines key features of SPARK Pro, including demos on pointer ownership, function contracts and safe type casting.

Watch this session to learn more about:

• The rich possibilities for data representation in SPARK
• Available contracts on data types
• The ownership principle for tracking pointers to data
• Available contracts on functions
• Handling of bindings with C libraries, safe type casting, software-hardware interactions
• Specializing the analysis for a given target platform

🚀 pla-util, the power line adapter utility, is now part of Alire - your package manager for Ada!

Manage HomePlug AV2 compliant power line adapters like BCM60500 or BCM60333 effortlessly on Linux. Explore the capabilities with pla-util 2.1.1. Check out the commands, set configurations, and make the most of your power line adapters. 🛠️💡

Discover the latest advancements in Ada Extension 24.0.3! 🚀

This update introduces native support for Mac M1 and Linux ARM64, ensuring a smooth experience across various platforms. The compilation and proving tasks have undergone significant improvements. Benefit from better support for editing project files. Explore the future of Ada development!

Happy coding! 🌐

🚀 The Advent of Ada is here, challenging your coding skills with daily exercises from December 1st to 25th. Use Ada or SPARK for extra motivation: AdaCore donates $10 for each Ada solution and $20 for SPARK solutions (Silver level) to the Ada Developers Academy, up to $5,000. Dive in and make a difference! Don't forget to register on our leaderboard (1708445-6a8f7730) if you're participating. 🌟

Latitude, a French aerospace startup, selected Ada and SPARK for their Zephyr light launcher project, recognizing the languages' safety, reliability, and efficiency. The entire software, from device drivers to microcontroller logic, is written in Ada, showcasing its trust in the language's capabilities. The team leverages AdaCore's GNAT Pro and SPARK tools for robust development, positioning them for success in the competitive New Space industry.

PS. They are hiring...

Exciting News from AdaCore: Release 24.0 libraries are now hitting Alire! 🚀 The initial batch is in the index, featuring updates to aunit, xmlada, gnatcoll, and more. Dive into the improvements, bug fixes, and new features in these releases. Check out the details on GitHub: Alire PR #921 #AdaCore #Alire #AdaProgramming #adalang #ada

🚀 Irvise suggests adding a "Projects to Work On" section to Ada-Lang.io, focusing on improving the broader Ada ecosystem. Projects could range from Ada programming and Alire enhancements to documentation, marketing, and support initiatives. Share your thoughts and ideas to create a more user-friendly and impactful Ada development environment. Let's shape the future together!

Continued Progress in Ada Language!

Following the launch of Ada 2022, active discussions are underway to explore potential improvements for enumerated types. The primary objective is to streamline the process of setting representation values by integrating their specifications with type declarations. Various proposals are on the table, ranging from permitting overlapping representations to introducing unordered enumerations. This underscores Ada's dedication to continual enhancement. Your insights, as Ada practitioners, are invaluable – share your perspectives on these proposals and contribute to shaping the future of Ada programming!

Explore our new lightweight-threading library, bridging the gap until Ada 2022's anticipated parallel features arrive. Seamlessly manage threads with customizable scheduling using our plug-in architecture. Choose from our two LWT scheduler options: an OpenMP wrapper and a native Ada work-stealing solution.

Ironclad is a formally verified, hard real-time capable kernel for general-purpose and embedded uses, written in SPARK and Ada. It is comprised of 100% free software, free in the sense that it respects the user's freedom.

Some of the supported features are:

• A familiar POSIX-compatible interface.
• True simultaneous preemptive multitasking.
• Advanced cryptography and a security-centered architecture.
• Mandatory Access Control (MAC).
• Highly configurable, hard real-time scheduling.
• Support for several architectures and boards.

Today (4 Nov 2023) at 14:00 UTC the author will preset it on Ada Monthly Meetup!

Hey Ada/SPARK enthusiasts! Just a quick reminder: there are only two months left to submit your entries for the Ada/SPARK Crate of the Year Award 2023. Get your crates into the Alire community index by the end of the year to stand a chance to win $2,000! 🚀🏅💰

This year, the new Ada language standard was released. Ada-auth.org has published the final text and transitioned to drafting Ada 202Y. You can participate by sharing ideas via email, filling out the Google form, or opening an issue on GitHub.

Hello Ada enthusiasts!

I'm excited to announce the November Ada Monthly Meetup, scheduled for the 4th of November at 14:00 UTC time (15:00 CET). We will be gathering online once again, continuing our tradition of monthly virtual meetups. This time, we're meeting on Jitsi.

As always, our meetups are a great opportunity to connect with fellow Ada enthusiasts, share ideas, and learn from each other. If you have any topics or talks you'd like to propose, feel free to do so! We're open to discussions on a wide range of Ada-related subjects.

I'm also thrilled to share that Streaksu, the talented creator of the Ironclad kernel, has generously volunteered to give an introductory talk and demonstration of the OS. It's a fantastic chance to dive into the intricacies of this innovative creation.

Let's come together and make this meetup even more engaging and insightful. Looking forward to seeing you all there! 🚀

Best regards