Re: using charles library

[Bill Findlay <yaldnifw@blueyonder.co.uk>]

On 31/5/03 12:50, in article 3ED896EC.CF303D93@somewhere.nil, "Gautier
Write-only" <gautier@somewhere.nil> wrote:
...
> If a translator from Pascal was expected to only recognize standard
> Pascal, it would be completely useless. No chance of going beyond a few
> lines of "usual" Pascal.

Unfortunately true.

>> Of course, a particular compiler might allow it anyway. That's one
>> difference between Ada and nearly every other programming language: Ada
>> compilers are tested for conformance. ...
> 
> ... and Pascal is a remarkable example (if not the worst) of
> fragmentation into incompatible dialects - we can forgive it since
> the language was designed for teaching programmation.

Well, Pascal was actually one of the first languages to have a
vendor-independent standard-conformance validation test-suite and process
(implemented by the British Standards Institution, which sponsored the
development of the British, later ANSI and ISO, standard).

Unfortunately, some vendors (curses be upon them) chose to ignore the
established Zurich and (later) institutional standards in favour of customer
lock-in through proprietary extensions. The fragmentation had little to do
with teaching, and in fact was detrimental to teaching, because it
fragmented the text-book market as well.


-- 
Bill-Findlay chez blue-yonder.co.uk ("-" => "")