[fpc-devel] Unicodestring branch, please test and help fixing

[listmember]

>> But, I could write a gigantic data mining application, a database application
>> or a myriad of such apps that uses the above class without doing a single
>> pixel of GUI stuff.
>
> I'd like to see that: it will be guaranteed dog slow :(

Hmm.. may be, maybe not.

Last year I wrote a natural lang parser (Pascal) and gave the source to 
a Java developer of friend mine.

It turned out to be faster in Java --classes and all. For some reason, 
using the same algorithm (my code converted to Java, basically), Java 
beat my natively compiled code. And, no there was no GUI involved.

Basing my arguement upon this world-shattering anectodal evidence, I 
hereby prove my point. So, there :P

> However, changing the object pascal language, so it requires the use of
> objects whenever you use strings: this is a different story.
>
> And that is what it was all about, after all.

Ooops! I joined too late then.

OK. I retract {I am said to come from a bargaining culture though I have 
yet to hone my skills with a carpet dealer, but I'll try my luck with 
compiler guys all the same} and ask, instead, to give us 
reference-counted 4-byte (actually, preferably 6-bytes) per cell 
arrays/strings.

If I can have such a beast, it will be fast enough and will also cover 
almost all of the foreseable problems.