Pascal (programming language): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:18, 18 April 2003

Revision as of 20:24, 26 April 2003

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== Unique Features ==

Unlike programming languages descended from C, Pascal uses := for assignment instead of =. This is an advantage in differentiating comparisons and assignments. In C == is comparison, but = is an assignment. These can be easily interchanged resulting in an inline assignment instead of a comparison. This syntax leads to many hard to track bugs in C style code. Since Pascal does not allow inline assignments and makes use of distinct syntax for assignments vs. comparisons itthese isbugs notcannot plaguedoccur within this ailmentPascal.

Another major difference is that Pascal is strongly typed. This means that all variables must be defined with a specific type before they can be used. Also incompatible variable assignments are not allows without an explicit type-cast. This prevents common errors where variables are used incorrectly because the type is unknown. This also alleviates the need for [[Hungarian notation]] - the practice of suffixing variable names with type identifing letters.

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#There is no way to override the type system, most notably, no casting.

As mentioned above, the currently available compilers address most of these issues. Many uninformed people still subscribe to the old belief that Pascal is not for "serious" programming and do not realize the benefits it currently offers. This stigma, more thenthan any actual deficiency, is Pascal's biggest liability.

=== Further reading ===