[fpc-pascal] Re: What is the most widely used Pascal on Linux and other Unix variants?

Marcos Douglas md at delfire.net
Tue Feb 28 13:10:07 CET 2012


On Tue, Feb 28, 2012 at 12:50 AM, Lars <noreply at z505.com> wrote:
> Frank Church wrote:
>> 5. This requires an increase in the uptake of Pascal. I mean if a language
>> like D can get so much attention and have libraries being created for it
>> why can't Pascal which has been longer established.
>>
>
> Another language to check out is TutorialD by Date and Darwen, a pascal
> like relational database language. Another interesting one which there is
> almost no information about is "Pascal/R" which was a relational pascal
> that died quickly, but I don't know why.
>
>
>> 6.  I guess one major shortcoming of Pascal is it is not immediately
>> identified with objects, like C. Can Free Pascal simply change its name to
>> Object Pascal
>
> Not all of freepascal is object oriented, a lot of it is simple procedural
> and you have the option to use objects if you want. Java and Ruby make the
> grand mistake of making everything an object and forcing you to code in
> objects when you shouldn't have to. C# the ugly java rip off language also
> forces you into objects and classes.  If IntToStr was welded in to some
> object and I had to create an "IntToStr object" before calling IntToStr,
> that would suck major.
>
> What would be nice is some actual innovation in programming languages
> instead of reinventing C++ over and over again.  I think what languages
> need is a relational twist to them. A new data type known as the Table in
> our langauges instead of arrays and records. It is known as a Relvar in
> TutorialD. We use ugly "object relational (o/r) mappers" instead of having
> tables and relvars in our language. Too many people reinvent the database
> using arrays, associative arrays, stringlists, TLists - all this should be
> a database table that you can create easily in your language instead of
> resorting to embedding SQL strings into your program.

Other language that have the Table type is Lua (www.lua.org).
This is an amazing language, very simple, clean and fast.

>> Honestly I think the name is probably the biggest problem if in an era of
>> objects everything it is not associated with Pascal due to its age and
>> past.
>>
>
> Objects everything.. yuck.. I still like simple procedural code for
> teaching people and for doing quick prototypes, I think one of the biggest
> mistakes of the industry is obsession with objects and not enough
> education about relational techniques (http://www.dbdebunk.com)

+1
I agree with this obsession with objects.

Marcos Douglas



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