[Richyfp]

Hi.

I'm starting college next year and I thought that I'd do a 1 year A/S level in computing to introduce myself to programming (if the course is good, I might do another year).

I have discovered that the preferred language at the college is Pascal (!?!) and would like to get a head-start on learning the language before September.

My first question is this: Can I write programs for Mac OS X in Pascal, and if so, where can I get the programming tools for this?

Secondly, does anyone know of any good resources for programming in Pascal?

I know that Pascal is certainly not the language of choice for many people here, but I don't really have a choice in the matter.

Thanks!

[aleph_null]

Yikes.

I think your only hope may be MPW, which you'll have to run in Classic, if you want to use OSX. Further, I don't think you'll be able to make Carbon apps with it, as I believe it will only compile for the 68k. So it'll be Classic or OS9 for you.

Of course, there may be other Pascal compilers out there. I don't know. This page didn't have much that looked promising, though the GNU Pascal compiler might be worth a look. It says it's based on the GCC back-end, so if it were ported to X it may even compile for the PPC.


Yikes.

[iJed]

CodeWarrior had support for Pascal although I think it was recently removed. Maybe you can pick up an old version somewhere if you can stand developing in classic.

[Apocalypse]

Pascal is still common in beginner programming courses because it is VERY easy to learn (It is my first language, learned it in grade 11 at school). In fact, I go to the University of Waterloo for computer science and, until a few years ago, they also used Pascal (now it is Java).
Since learning Pascal is damn easy and they will be teaching you anyway, it won't really require much thinking so you could probably start knowing nothing of the language.
If I were you, I would just start to learn C. C is almost as easy to learn as Pascal and only slightly less powerful (C doesn't have objects). C is also extended into Objective C and C++ which both g beyond Pascal in ability yet hold the C syntax. Even Java and Perl syntax resembles that of C while Pascal looks only like itself (and Modula-3, I think). It will be easy for you to learn Pascal after C but knowing C opens more doors.

That is my recommendation,
Jeff.

[Richyfp]

Thanks for your responses.

I see that Pascal is a dying (basically dead) language then! I can understand why the college would choose to introduce beginners to a simple, easy-to-learn language, but what's the point if it's not used anywhere?!? .

Anyway, now that I have decided to learn C, can someone direct me to a simple C tutorial and the programming tools I need to program in this language? I'm gonna have a search for a thread on this cos I'm sure there are loads, but a link would be good, please...

Thanks again!

[davecom]

The apple devtools include gcc(command is cc) which is industry standard c compiler and you can even use project builder for development if you want. A great book is "The C Programming Language" by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie two of the three original inventors of the C language. The book covers everything that a 500 page books covers with better easier to understand explanations in 272 pages.

[clarkgoble]

Gnu has a Pascal compiler.
http://didaktik.physik.uni-essen.de/~gnu-pascal/

I've not really checked it out and don't know if it comes with OSX devtools. Realistically though I wouldn't bother if I were you. I did the Pascal / Modula-2/3 thing way back in the day. However as I'm sure everyone else tells you, learning C or C++ will help you far more and is a vastly superior language. The only downside is that C pointers aren't quite as "hit you over the head" as in Pascal. Of course that is a benefit for a lot of people - I personally find C pointers much more intuitive, but that's me.

C really isn't that hard a language and realistically is very similar to Pascal in most areas. The only difference is that C has a more "terse" notation. i.e. || instead of OR, && instead of AND, {} instead of BEGIN END.

[Richyfp]

Cheers everyone!

I'm definately going to look into C now, and almost certainly going to buy the book - I'll see if I can get hold of it in a bookstore this Saturday.

You've all been most helpful!

Richard