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There is no inherent benefit in C that, for example, a somewhat modified version of Pascal or Algol wouldn't have inherited. I happen to like C and think it ha

There is no inherent benefit in C that, for example, a somewhat modified version of Pascal or Algol wouldn't have inherited. I happen to like C and think it has a lot going for it, but you're definitely right about this. The original Mac OS was written in Pascal (and assembly), not C. And Turbo Pascal was deservedly popular for a good while. In an alternate universe, Pascal rather than C could be the incumbent legacy systems language.

WalterBright 9y ago
Pascal suffered because its standard was woefully incomplete, and every implementation added mutually incompatible proprietary extensions. Turbo Pascal and all the TP developed code died when DOS died.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Turbo Pascal did not die, it was reborn as Delphi and only decreased its market share because many key developers ended up going to Microsoft, while Borland management decided enterprise customers were more important than indies.
  - speedplane 9y ago
    What year did Borland make that call? I remember my HS programming class in the late 1990s used a Borland compiler and development environment. I don't recall it being "enterprisey" at the time. That being said I was in HS, and likely associated the word "enterprise" with starships more than big companies.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      When they re-braded themselves as Inprise, 1996. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borland
      - speedplane 9y ago
        Hmm... I first touched a Borland compiler in the 1998-99 school year. I had programmed before that, but it was my first time programming a GUI with the Win32 APIs. I made a Battleship game with a very rudimentary AI so you could play against the computer. Not sure if Borland was good or evil at the time, but those memories will certainly endear me to them.
- clouddrover 9y ago
  You can revive Turbo Pascal code with Free Pascal. Here's a port guide: https://www.freepascal.org/port.var https://www.freepascal.org/port.var
jmull 9y ago
You have to wonder, though, why the enduring big dogs of OSs are written in C. Classic Mac OS was written in Pascal, but it had to be scrapped and replaced.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  Pressure from customers coming from UNIX, and Apple trying to get into UNIX with A/UX.
- iainmerrick 9y ago
  I remember using System 7, which I later learned was the result of a big rewrite of much of the OS in C++ rather than Pascal. It had some nice features, and the rewrite was probably a wise decision for maintainability and future expansion, but compared to System 6 it was sloooooooooow
- lomnakkus 9y ago
  It's pretty simple: C was already popular -- meaning: at least decent-ish compilers for most platforms.

WalterBright 9y ago

Pascal suffered because its standard was woefully incomplete, and every implementation added mutually incompatible proprietary extensions. Turbo Pascal and all the TP developed code died when DOS died.

pjmlp 9y ago
Turbo Pascal did not die, it was reborn as Delphi and only decreased its market share because many key developers ended up going to Microsoft, while Borland management decided enterprise customers were more important than indies.
- speedplane 9y ago
  What year did Borland make that call? I remember my HS programming class in the late 1990s used a Borland compiler and development environment. I don't recall it being "enterprisey" at the time. That being said I was in HS, and likely associated the word "enterprise" with starships more than big companies.
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    When they re-braded themselves as Inprise, 1996. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borland
    - speedplane 9y ago
      Hmm... I first touched a Borland compiler in the 1998-99 school year. I had programmed before that, but it was my first time programming a GUI with the Win32 APIs. I made a Battleship game with a very rudimentary AI so you could play against the computer. Not sure if Borland was good or evil at the time, but those memories will certainly endear me to them.
clouddrover 9y ago
You can revive Turbo Pascal code with Free Pascal. Here's a port guide: https://www.freepascal.org/port.var https://www.freepascal.org/port.var

jmull 9y ago

You have to wonder, though, why the enduring big dogs of OSs are written in C. Classic Mac OS was written in Pascal, but it had to be scrapped and replaced.

pjmlp 9y ago
Pressure from customers coming from UNIX, and Apple trying to get into UNIX with A/UX.
iainmerrick 9y ago
I remember using System 7, which I later learned was the result of a big rewrite of much of the OS in C++ rather than Pascal. It had some nice features, and the rewrite was probably a wise decision for maintainability and future expansion, but compared to System 6 it was sloooooooooow
lomnakkus 9y ago
It's pretty simple: C was already popular -- meaning: at least decent-ish compilers for most platforms.