Anyone who does project management on large projects will find out that C and C++ requires more qualified programmers and up to three times as many programming hours than Inprise Delphi.
I have used Pascal since Compas Pascal, which was the successor to Nascom Pascal (was it 4KByte?), and predecessor to PolyPascal, Turbo Pascal, Borland Pascal and then Delphi.
Having done several projects in C, C++, several assemblers, Visual Basic etc., there is no doubt, that Pascal makes quality control in large projects much easier, and the fact, that the linker is not technology from the 1970's really improves productivity and encapsulation.
I guess that I write approx. 20-40.000 lines of code a year, which would compare to the double in C++ lines. FPC makes me able to do open-source development using this fabulous language, even before Inprise puts out Delphi for Linux.
The traditional problem with Pascal is, that it tends not to be cross-platform. The good thing is, that you can make the same program three times with the same efforts as it would take to do it in C++ - and that alone justifies its use.
Delphi is the full-blown compiler, with which you can write a 10-table database GUI program in one day, where the final program will only be one.exe file (on Windows), that doesn't need special DLL's to be installed.
I use Linux programming style on Windows, so it's not an answer we need, but a different question. Soon, Kylix will join us, making Windows and Linux apps development approx. the same for many people. The question will be answered very differently depending on which tools people use.
The question should be: Why should you do open-source development instead of Windows Closed-Source development?
I think the answers here are much more obvious, I don't need to list them.
A recent study in Denmark (Europe) showed that the average age of people leaving the IT industry is 29. Main reason for leaving is too much work, too much stress. This way, your value increases with age, if you still stay on top.
Over here, a typical wage at age 20-25 is $2500 a month (before taxes). At 40 it is $5000 a month. Good people get more. Free-lance programmers typically get $8000 a month, but then have to pay for their holidays themselves.
Of all the languages I have seen since I started in 1980, Borlands Turbo Pascal for DOS was clearly the best for childrens use. Ease of use combined with lots of possibilities makes it real childrens play, and it still is, year 2000!
Text mode software might not be the most interesting in an adults eyes nowadays, but it's far better than any Unix scripting tool or C/C++ because it has this integrated environment with integrated system libraries, where you don't have to know a lot about protocols or external libraries, and it still provides power.
When the children want graphics or GUI, they can upgrade to Delphi for Linux or Windows.
I'm not saying that Denmark does it good. I'm just saying that most danes like it this way. Germans have to carry ID around when they walk on the street, most danes wouldn't accept a requirement to walk around with an ID.
The difference between the CPR-number and the Social Security Numbers is the level of detail, that you can look up in the databases. Like Canada, we actually store all medicine you buy, you illness records etc. It's extremely valuable for research.
What the law does, is to give politicians control of, what is stored, how long it is stored etc. In fact, our company makes an add-on product for Microsoft Access, that makes it comply with the law, so we know pretty much about it. It seems that the Canadians did not know about their databases. At least we do.
I hope that countries stay different, and that other countries don't copy our system entirely, but I don't think you can stop government use of database systems. And I think openness and regulations are better than ignorance.
Denmark also has a central database with lots and lots of data for each person living in Denmark. The primary key in the person-table is a number consisting of our birthdate and four extra digits. The last digit is uneven for male and even for female persons. Because of this database, our population is popular for international studies on populations, like medical studies. The system is named CPR and the number we carry is named CPR-number. A newly born child has to get a name within 6 months after birth. But it must get a CPR-number within a couple of days. The unique number is more important than the name... In fact, most danes like it this way. The CPR number is used in Banks, insurance companies, even when renting video cassettes or DVDs. This way, persons can be tracked independantly of their name. In order to regulate this stuff, we have strict database regulations, that do not allow anyone to store CPR-number related information electronically if it is not secured correctly. You cannot just set up a Microsoft Access database and start entering information, this would be illegal. What Canada does has been done before, it's no news.
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Anyone who does project management on large projects will find out that C and C++ requires more qualified programmers and up to three times as many programming hours than Inprise Delphi.
.exe file (on Windows), that doesn't need special DLL's to be installed.
I have used Pascal since Compas Pascal, which was the successor to Nascom Pascal (was it 4KByte?), and predecessor to PolyPascal, Turbo Pascal, Borland Pascal and then Delphi.
Having done several projects in C, C++, several assemblers, Visual Basic etc., there is no doubt, that Pascal makes quality control in large projects much easier, and the fact, that the linker is not technology from the 1970's really improves productivity and encapsulation.
I guess that I write approx. 20-40.000 lines of code a year, which would compare to the double in C++ lines. FPC makes me able to do open-source development using this fabulous language, even before Inprise puts out Delphi for Linux.
The traditional problem with Pascal is, that it tends not to be cross-platform. The good thing is, that you can make the same program three times with the same efforts as it would take to do it in C++ - and that alone justifies its use.
Delphi is the full-blown compiler, with which you can write a 10-table database GUI program in one day, where the final program will only be one
I use Linux programming style on Windows, so it's not an answer we need, but a different question. Soon, Kylix will join us, making Windows and Linux apps development approx. the same for many people. The question will be answered very differently depending on which tools people use.
The question should be: Why should you do open-source development instead of Windows Closed-Source development?
I think the answers here are much more obvious, I don't need to list them.
A recent study in Denmark (Europe) showed that the average age of people leaving the IT industry is 29. Main reason for leaving is too much work, too much stress. This way, your value increases with age, if you still stay on top.
Over here, a typical wage at age 20-25 is $2500 a month (before taxes). At 40 it is $5000 a month. Good people get more. Free-lance programmers typically get $8000 a month, but then have to pay for their holidays themselves.
Of all the languages I have seen since I started in 1980, Borlands Turbo Pascal for DOS was clearly the best for childrens use. Ease of use combined with lots of possibilities makes it real childrens play, and it still is, year 2000!
Text mode software might not be the most interesting in an adults eyes nowadays, but it's far better than any Unix scripting tool or C/C++ because it has this integrated environment with integrated system libraries, where you don't have to know a lot about protocols or external libraries, and it still provides power.
When the children want graphics or GUI, they can upgrade to Delphi for Linux or Windows.
How much does it cost to send a potato-driven web-server, a bunch of potatoes and some kind of parabolic antenna to the moon?
Seriously: Would the person who connects this moon-based web-server to the internet be responsible for the contents of that web-server?
Hey - I just wanted to post exactly the same message!!!
I'm not saying that Denmark does it good. I'm just saying that most danes like it this way. Germans have to carry ID around when they walk on the street, most danes wouldn't accept a requirement to walk around with an ID.
The difference between the CPR-number and the Social Security Numbers is the level of detail, that you can look up in the databases. Like Canada, we actually store all medicine you buy, you illness records etc. It's extremely valuable for research.
What the law does, is to give politicians control of, what is stored, how long it is stored etc. In fact, our company makes an add-on product for Microsoft Access, that makes it comply with the law, so we know pretty much about it. It seems that the Canadians did not know about their databases. At least we do.
I hope that countries stay different, and that other countries don't copy our system entirely, but I don't think you can stop government use of database systems. And I think openness and regulations are better than ignorance.
Denmark also has a central database with lots and lots of data for each person living in Denmark. The primary key in the person-table is a number consisting of our birthdate and four extra digits. The last digit is uneven for male and even for female persons. Because of this database, our population is popular for international studies on populations, like medical studies. The system is named CPR and the number we carry is named CPR-number. A newly born child has to get a name within 6 months after birth. But it must get a CPR-number within a couple of days. The unique number is more important than the name... In fact, most danes like it this way. The CPR number is used in Banks, insurance companies, even when renting video cassettes or DVDs. This way, persons can be tracked independantly of their name. In order to regulate this stuff, we have strict database regulations, that do not allow anyone to store CPR-number related information electronically if it is not secured correctly. You cannot just set up a Microsoft Access database and start entering information, this would be illegal. What Canada does has been done before, it's no news.