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Ada is a third generation computer programming language. Ada was designed to emphasize reliability, data abstraction, information hiding, and other key elements of modern systems design.

Earlier versions of Oracle's PL/SQL language were based on the Ada language syntax and structure.


Photo of Lady Augusta Ada Byron

The origins of Ada can be traced back to a US Department of Defence funding crisis. They desperately needed a programming language to develop cheaper and more reliable systems. The language was designed through an international competition. Rigorous standards and specifications were imposed from the beginning.

Ada was named in honour of Lady Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1852), daughter of Lord Byron. She is regarded by many as the world's first computer programmer. She assisted Charles Babbage with his famous "Analytical Engine", a mechanical digital computer, for which she wrote the first programs.

Today, the Ada language specification is governed by ISO and ANSI standards.

Ada compared to PL/SQL[edit]

PL/SQL and Ada were developed along different paths over the years, however, the basic resemblance remains. For example packages, procedures, functions, exceptions, BEGIN and END blocks, "=" is used for comparison, ":=" for assignment, etc.

Look at the following sample Ada program:

-- Simple program to demonstrate how similar Ada is to Oracle's PL/SQL
with Ada.Text_IO;

PROCEDURE HelloWorld is
   Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line("Look Ma, I can write Ada programs!");
END HelloWorld;

External links[edit]

Glossary of Terms