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Free Pascal 2.2 Has Been Released
Daniel Mantione writes "Free Pascal 2.2 has been released. Several new platforms are supported, like the Mac OS X on Intel platform, the Game Boy Advance, Windows CE and 64-Windows. Free Pascal is now the first and only free software compiler that targets 64-bit Windows. These advancements were made possible by Free Pascal's internal assembler and linker allowing support for platforms not supported by the GNU binutils. The advancement in internal assembling and linking also allow faster compilation times and smaller executables, increasing the programmer comfort. Other new features are stabs debug support, many new code optimizations, resourcestring smart-linking and more."
FreePascal has come a long way, and at least for me, it's a very valuable tool. I may not be exactly the target audience, but I prefer Object Pascal over C(++) any day for many reasons, and FPC has been my sidekick ever since Delphi did it's magic trick of fading into obscurity and uselessness. Lazarus needs some more work though, but it's getting there. Hell, if I had the time to spare, I'd contribute myself (sadly, I don't). "Good work" and thanks to the guys that made it all happen!
Just because you don't use it, doesn't mean it isn't used. For instance, I knew someone that used Pascal in industry as an Engineer. Can't remember exactly what kind of Engineer though (it's been about 6 years). But, even if it wasn't used in industry at all, these developments would still be *very* useful as it is quite useful as a learning language.
Basically, please remember that there are lands beyond your horizon. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean that they don't exist nor does it mean that they aren't important.
Like many others here, I learnt Pascal at school in the early 80s before C, then C++ and finally Java became the standard teaching languages. The thing about Pascal, of course, is that it was designed to be a teaching language. All of that verbose syntax is meant to teach good structured programming. While Object Pascal will never reach the mainstream in any way more than Delphi did, it would perhaps have eliminated many of the errors made by coders due to the byzantine complexity of C++. At least thats what I think. That enforced verbosity made the code very readable, in a similar way to the way Java is, except that Pascal is native code.
Free Pascal is now the first and only free software compiler that targets 64-bit Windows.
Sure, but then you have to write it in Pascal!
Drastically? Hardly. Pascal isn't much different to C or Fortran or Ada. You want a drastically different culture? Try Lisp or Forth or Haskell.
Why was parent modded troll? The article says "only free software compiler" which could mean either a compiler that is free software (as in FOSS), or a software compiler that is free. Certainly, Microsoft distributes a C++ compiler that targets both AMD64 and IA-64 and is compiler that is free, although not FOSS.
/. readers look like pimply basement dwelling dorks.
It's this childish "Waah, its MS and not FOSS" attitude that make all of
Ugh...
Pascal is the new COBOL and it's going to be around for a while. I've used the language for 20 years and really like it but I like to keep a balanced diet with other languages like C/C++ and C#.
Many of his points are about primordial pascal, which no one has really used during the entire time of its popularity (the 80s, mostly) and of course thereafter. However, the 'improved' pascals do not have a formal specification, which is a sad thing. Most people shoot for "tastes like borland", which I guess is at least fairly static now that they've given up on it.
Some of the typing weirdness remains, although it is better hidden. Some of the cosmetic issues remain.
Really the big problem with Free Pascal generation pascal is it is only better than C in some fairly academic ways, and a lot worse than C in some quite practical ways. There are far better minority language choices to be made for most tasks. Free Pascal is more of a "because it's fun" language that people choose because people used Borland pascal for those purposes historically, not really for any virtues of the language itself.
-josh
I don't think Borland gave up all the quickly. We went through three full development cycles, and even did a C++ version. The product didn't so much end early as start late. The 1.0 release was many months behind schedule, mainly because Borland's developers just didn't believe in schedules.