🚀 go-pugleaf

> Yes!, Turbo Pascal is the best system to develop programs today. It has
> all extensions and capabilities you will need ( from the lowest level to
> objects ).
> It is a very optimized and very fast compiler. I got recently Turbo C++.
> Even though it is very fast among the C compilers it is more than 20
> times slower than Turbo Pascal. 
> 
> Domingo Mihovilovic A.
> dma@nova.stanford.edu
----------

I disagree.  I have used Turbo Pascal since the days of CP/M and 
currently have Turbo Pascal 5.5, Turbo C 2.0, and Turbo C++ 1.0.
I used Pascal for 4 years professionally before learning C and I
would still recommend C or C++ hands down for power.  

While Pascal is better for the novice because of it's simplicity,
verbosity, and strong typing (C++ has strong typing, too, but is
a more complex language) it is a more restrictive language for
the expert.  Pascal was originally developed as a language to
teach structured programming.  It is very good for that, but
not so good for serious large scale programming.

The more extensive library of functions that comes with C and 
the more flexible use of pointers in C than in Pascal make a 
big difference.  I have tried porting programs from one language
to the other for comparison and I always have found myself having
to do a lot of extra work in Pascal because of things it doesn't
do.  Pascal does NOT do everything C does.

I realize some people like Pascal better.  I've met some that
were prejudiced by their professors in school.  Others like
the verbosity (starting with BEGIN/END vs {/}).  Still others
swear by the strong typing, not being interested in the strong
typing of C++ because it's a decendent of K&R C.  To some extent,
language preference is an individual choice.  But from my 
experience, I'd have to say that those who chose Pascal for 
really difficult tasks are working under a handicap.  (Now,
reading someone ELSE's code can be an entirely different matter.
The power of C is also subject to abuse by those with little
interest in writing readable code.)

Now pardon me while I duck before I get shot by a Pascal fan... :-)

John Hardin
hardin@hpindgh.hp.com