Correct Identation/Contex can solve the too many compiler error messages problem when a closing brac

[Al Slater]

The pascal style aligns it properly vertically like so:

if a<b then
begin

end;

That is your style, not "the pascal style".

I use

if (a<b) then begin
foo();
end;

I find that a lot easier on the eye.

Al

 

[J French]

On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 16:45:10 +0200, "Skybuck Flying"

Mostly Skybuck you spout a lot of junk

However :-

Which is something
autistic people have great trouble recognizing and since many autistic
people work in the tech industry

That is a very astute observation

- on par with a knowledgeable poster's observation that :-

Few programmers have linguistic skills

I'm beginning to think that in a few years, you might get rather good

This one is flogging a dead horse, both Pascal and C were designed for
the compiler - not the programmer

 

[Oliver Wong]

Few programmers have linguistic skills

While this statement may be true, I think it is misleading. It implies
that computer science and linguistics are diametrically opposed when in fact
the reverse is true. A less misleading statement might be "Computer science
and linguistics are intertwined; unfortunately, few programmers excel in
either domain."

This one is flogging a dead horse, both Pascal and C were designed for
the compiler - not the programmer

I don't know about C and haven't spoken to Thompson and Ritchie to find
out what their intents were, but the above statement is factually false in
the case of Pascal. Pascal was designed to TEACH programming, and in fact,
originally it was only a theoretical language (i.e. there was no intention
to ever actually write a compiler for Pascal).

The fact that Pascal is easy to parse is probably a side effect of it
being developped mainly by academics, who like elegance.

- Oliver

 

[Bruce Roberts]

While this statement may be true, I think it is misleading. It implies
that computer science and linguistics are diametrically opposed when in fact
the reverse is true. A less misleading statement might be "Computer science
and linguistics are intertwined; unfortunately, few programmers excel in
either domain."

Sad, but true.

I don't know about C and haven't spoken to Thompson and Ritchie to find
out what their intents were, but the above statement is factually false in
the case of Pascal. Pascal was designed to TEACH programming, and in fact,
originally it was only a theoretical language (i.e. there was no intention
to ever actually write a compiler for Pascal).

For C history see http://www.bell-labs.com/history/unix/btoc.html.

From Pascal User Manual & Report, 2nd Edition, Jensen & Wirth,
Springer-Verlag, 1975, 1st paragraph of Report (pg 133):

"The development of the language Pascal is based on two principal aims. The
first is to make available a language suitable to teach programming . . .
The second is to develop implementations of this language which are both
reliable and efficient on presently available computers."

 

[Oliver Wong]

From Pascal User Manual & Report, 2nd Edition, Jensen & Wirth,
Springer-Verlag, 1975, 1st paragraph of Report (pg 133):

"The development of the language Pascal is based on two principal aims.
The
first is to make available a language suitable to teach programming . . .
The second is to develop implementations of this language which are both
reliable and efficient on presently available computers."

Hmm, interesting...

I couldn't find any reference to support my earlier statement, except
for this relatively weak one from Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PASCAL): "Initially, Pascal was a
*HYPOTHETICAL* language intended to teach students structured programming"
(emphasis mine).

- Oliver

 

[Roedy Green]

orthogonal to the concept of intelligent error message supression, which is
a moderately well understood problem.

The problem is {} are not linked, and they can be come offset to match
many layers incorrectly generating the strangest code. If, as in some
other languages you have a different token to end a method or a loop
or a block, then {} mispairings are automatically corralled to a
narrow range, and the compiler sees a much more plausible program. It
does not have to suppress error messages.

 

[Roedy Green]

However, if the person who designs the language also designs the first
compiler he will unconsciously tend to make the job of the compiler
writer easier at the expense of the application programmer.

 

[Bruce Roberts]

However, if the person who designs the language also designs the first
compiler he will unconsciously tend to make the job of the compiler
writer easier at the expense of the application programmer.

I don't think that is a given. Wirth was a cs professor at the time he
designed Pascal. His primary goal was achieving a language design that was
eminently suited to teaching a 1st programming language. If you examine
Pascal and its early compilers I think you will find that that goal was
achieved. In your examination, use the proper historical context to judge
the language. We have 35+ years more design experience and hardware vastly
more capable - our tools and expectations are correspondingly more
sophisticated.