textbook info

Course text:

Author:	John Barnes
Title:	Programming in Ada 2012 or …in Ada 2005
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Edition:	see Note below	1st	1st, …in Ada 2005
ISBN:		978-1107424814	978-0321340788
Note:	The book is also available on-line. In addition to this, you are welcome (even encouraged) to get a used copy of the physical textbook. The …Ada 2005 version is acceptable if your budget is tight, but may entail some further reading on-line from Rationale for Ada 2012.

Other references:

Why Physical Books?

“Oh great Barland; you ask us to order a copy of the book, and now you're saying that buying the book is unnecessary?”
No! … not really. I'll point out:

most studies confirm that reading paper versions of book give better retention of the material ¹ ² ³
Sure saving $30 or $70 can be significant. But, be careful what corners you cut: over 4yrs of at RU, your tuition, room&board, etc. is north of $80,000-$90,000 (!)⁴ ⁵ When you look back on college in ten years, you might find that certain physical textbooks have provided an out-sized proportion of value, for their money. Phrased conversely: Saving 3% in the wrong places might diminish the value of that $80,000 by significantly more than you save.

Of course it's not that e-books are bad, especially for 'Search', and for access while traveling. Personally, I feel the ideal is to have both, with the physical book for when I'm studying and reading closely for retention. Having a physical copy alongside library access gets you that!

...Sorry for going on about this. As profs, we're looking for ways to save students money, while still providing a valuable education. But I want you to be aware of all your options too, since everybody's situation can be different.

¹ a page mentioning several studies with differing (but leaning) conclusions ↩

² a good source, but behind a paywall ↩

³ a page with blantat bias, but it does cite solid studies ↩

⁴ RU's tuition etc ↩

⁵ external tuition/costs page; it acknowledges other costs ↩

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