Pascal (programming language): Difference between revisions

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'''Pascal''' is an [[Imperative programming|imperative]] and [[Procedural programming|procedural]] [[programming language]], designed by [[Niklaus Wirth]] as a small, efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using [[structured programming]] and [[data structure|data structuring]]. It is named after French mathematician, philosopher and physicist [[Blaise Pascal]] for [[Pascal's calculator|his calculator]].{{efn|In an issue of [[Electronics (magazine)|Electronics]] in 1978, Wirth explained why he named the language after Blaise Pascal: "Actually, I am neither capable of fully understanding his philosophy nor of appreciating his religious exaltations. Pascal, however, was (perhaps one of) the first to invent and construct [[Pascal's calculator|a device]] that we now classify as a digital computer."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Wirth |first=Niklaus |author-link=Niklaus Wirth |date=1978-12-21 |title=Obeisance to Pascal, inventor |magazine=[[Electronics (magazine)|Electronics]] |publisher=Dan McMillan |editor1-first=Kemp |editor1-last=Anderson |department=Readers' comments |issn=0013-5070 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/70s/78/Electronics-1978-12-21.pdf |access-date=2024-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240520045053/https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Electronics/70s/78/Electronics-1978-12-21.pdf |archive-date=2024-05-20 |url-status=live |page=6}}</ref> }}

Pascal was developed on the pattern of the [[ALGOL 60]] language. Wirth was involved in the process to improve the language as part of the [[ALGOL X]] efforts and proposed a version named [[ALGOL W]]. This was not accepted, and the ALGOL X process bogged down. In 1968, Wirth decided to abandon the ALGOL X process and further improve ALGOL W, releasing this as Pascal in 1970.