Modula-3

by Samuel P. Harbison III

This book aims to provide a complete guide for programmers who want to learn how to write correct and maintainable programmes in the Modula-3 programming language - the newest member of the Pascal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0135963966
• ISBN13: 9780135963968
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 450 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A well written manual with little practical interest today

Modula-3 is a language in the Wirth family of languages, but this time, the result has been an actually useful language (perhaps because Wirth was not involved in the process). I am unsure as to why the language never catched on, as it is as readable as Pascal, as expressive as C++ or Ada, as safe as Java, and with a reasonable module system. It would be the ideal teaching language, and the ideal language for software engineering. I guess DEC never had a marketing engine comparable to Sun.The book is clearly aimed at someone already having taken a basic programming course, but requires little knowledge beyond that. Harbison describes every major feature in just about the right amount of detail, and emphasizes how Modula-3s features help you write reliable and maintainable software (they really do).Unfortunately Modula-3 is now dead. It's real-world use is close to non-existent, and anyone looking for a sane language for real-world use are going to Java. The book is excellent, but the value is limited because you will probably never find a good reason to write a Modula-3 program instead of using a more mainstream language.

A clear text and reference, but slightly disorganized.

Displaying the power and clarity of this fairly young but robust, reliable, efficient, platform-independent programming language, the author covers all its features with formal definitions, examples, and side comments that relate Modula-3 concepts to C++, Pascal and other languages. Great for self-study, useable as a text. Has exercizes at the ends of each chapter. Once used that way, Harbison's book makes a fine reference on the langauge, but some topics are covered more than once, at different levels of detail, which can be frustrating. Assumes the reader already knows something about computer programming. For a from-scratch beginners book, try Boeszoermenyi's book. (Learn Modula-3 and put Java and C++ out of business!)