Pascal Programming Question:
Should standard Pascal be used without extentions?
Answer:
Recently, I have had some folks email me that they are surprised I am supporting advanced extentions for Pascal.
Pascal always had extentions. The original compiler created by Niklaus Wirth had extentions specific to the CDC 6000 series computers. The idea of the standard was never to forbid extentions, but rather that the basic implementation be as standardized across processors and implementations as possible.
In the old days of the mainframe and line printers, there was actually a chance that a program completely coded within the language standard would be all that was needed. Now, with advanced graphics and sound, and advanced devices like video editing, the general portable program is thought by many to be dead. I would say that nothing is further from the truth. We need clean and portable interfaces and programs more than ever. What has changed is that we rely more on library construction and interfaces. Windows, OS X and Linux/X Windows can be thought of as advanced intefaces with somewhat limited portability. Advanced graphics libraries such OpenGL are paving the way to new levels of functionality and portabilty.
Pascal always had extentions. The original compiler created by Niklaus Wirth had extentions specific to the CDC 6000 series computers. The idea of the standard was never to forbid extentions, but rather that the basic implementation be as standardized across processors and implementations as possible.
In the old days of the mainframe and line printers, there was actually a chance that a program completely coded within the language standard would be all that was needed. Now, with advanced graphics and sound, and advanced devices like video editing, the general portable program is thought by many to be dead. I would say that nothing is further from the truth. We need clean and portable interfaces and programs more than ever. What has changed is that we rely more on library construction and interfaces. Windows, OS X and Linux/X Windows can be thought of as advanced intefaces with somewhat limited portability. Advanced graphics libraries such OpenGL are paving the way to new levels of functionality and portabilty.
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