[fpc-pascal] Object pascal a "Modern Language"

[Paul Davidson]

Mild Pascal rant:

Thank you for considering Pascal.  Contrary to popular belief, Pascal 
is indeed a modern language.  Though developed some time ago it has 
evolved the to include most of the extensions seen in 'modern' 
languages.  It should be noted that modern is not synonymous with 
recently invented.

Pascal is fully OO.  Many would say the implementation of OO is better 
and more complete than C++.  Performance is on par with C and C++.  Any 
differences usually related to automatic and predictable garbage 
collection present in Pascal.  Accessing C libraries is also simple.

Coming from a long background in large scale application design and 
management, Pascal has other advantages.  The syntax is somewhat simple 
than C and Java.  As well, experience and studies have shown that the 
same skill and effort applied to a C and Pascal project usually results 
in about 50% less productions bugs in the Pascal code.

FPC specifically has more advantages.  First is the active (and 
somewhat rabid:) development community.  It is centered in Europe, 
where the 'language du jour' does not hold as much sway as it does in 
North America.  Also, there is a large collection of libraries, tools 
and utilities available.

FPC handles many different flavours of the language.  It is portable 
(as is Lazarus) over many operating systems and processor types.  It is 
far more portable than Java and .Net (for different reasons)!

A thought-out design of your application can be as fast and portable as 
you wish.

Thank you for considering FPC and good luck with your project.

</RANT>

On Mar 3, 2006, at 12:01, Matt Henley wrote:

> I belong to a mailing list for a defunt open source chemical process
> simulator (Sim42).  Members of the list are now showing interest in
> restarting the effort.  It was originally written in python which
> cause some speed issues.  Several of the list members (including me)
> suggested freepascal and lazarus.  The gentleman spearheading the
> effort sent the following and I would like to know what is the best
> way to respond.  I do not know what features define a "modern
> language" and would like to know what points to bring up.
>
> "My personal objective is not just to put out a simulator, but a fast
> and efficient simulator.  Furthermore, personally, I do not consider a
> program portable if it is written in a language which very few can
> understand.  A modern language such as any of the .NET languages will
> meet the efficiency objective but portability remains an issue.  While
> I do have the Visual Studio .NET and I am happy with it, I understand
> that not everybody has it and it is not cheap.  I looked at the
> Lazarus project and (at least at a first glance) it is indeed very
> "Visual" and will likely do the job.  It will however, limit us to
> Pascal which is not really a modern language.  For those of you who
> are in favor of using Lazarus, can you assure the rest of us that
> Pascal has been modernized? "
>
> Thanks for any help
> Matt Henley
> _______________________________________________
> fpc-pascal maillist  -  fpc-pascal at lists.freepascal.org
> http://lists.freepascal.org/mailman/listinfo/fpc-pascal
>
>
>
P Davidson
Corax Networks Inc.
http://CoraxNetworks.com