3 ms·

What is it you want to build? How long does it need to be supported? Will people be harmed if it fails? Will people be jailed if it fails? (Like the Postal syst

What is it you want to build? How long does it need to be supported? Will people be harmed if it fails? Will people be jailed if it fails? (Like the Postal system in England) Pascal is fast in terms of compilation and runtime. It has good error handling. You can threads, do generics, etc. Unlike Python or C, a Pascal program you write now will likely compile correctly without modifications a decade from now.

john_the_writer 3y ago
What do you mean unlike C? I've a c body of code that I wrote in 98, and it still compiles and runs without issue. I poke at it now and again, because it has some interesting bits. Still works.
- mikewarot 3y ago
  I've always avoided C, but there was an implementation of the STOIC language in C[1], that pushed me over the edge and nerd-sniped me[2]. It took quite a while to finally figure out that I'd need use Debian 3 to get it to compile at all.[3] It was only after a generous amount of time from HN that I was able to get a fork working with modern compilers (barely).[4] Experience taught me that C changed radically in the past 2 decades, what was once the popular style of code just isn't acceptable any more. Throw in the change from 32 to 64 bit CPUs, and everything just broke. Not to mention changes to AutoConf, etc. I still love the idea of the language, but every time I think of even touching it, I still find myself wishing I could just re-write it in Pascal or Assembler. I've had similar issues with Python, thanks to WikidPad[5], which still runs as a decade old Windows binary, but fails because of breaking changes to WxPython. [1] https://stoical.sourceforge.net/documentation.php https://stoical.sourceforge.net/documentation.php [2] https://xkcd.com/356/ https://xkcd.com/356/ [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30957273 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30957273 [4] https://github.com/mikewarot/mstoical https://github.com/mikewarot/mstoical [5] https://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/ https://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/

john_the_writer 3y ago

What do you mean unlike C? I've a c body of code that I wrote in 98, and it still compiles and runs without issue. I poke at it now and again, because it has some interesting bits. Still works.

mikewarot 3y ago
I've always avoided C, but there was an implementation of the STOIC language in C[1], that pushed me over the edge and nerd-sniped me[2]. It took quite a while to finally figure out that I'd need use Debian 3 to get it to compile at all.[3] It was only after a generous amount of time from HN that I was able to get a fork working with modern compilers (barely).[4] Experience taught me that C changed radically in the past 2 decades, what was once the popular style of code just isn't acceptable any more. Throw in the change from 32 to 64 bit CPUs, and everything just broke. Not to mention changes to AutoConf, etc. I still love the idea of the language, but every time I think of even touching it, I still find myself wishing I could just re-write it in Pascal or Assembler. I've had similar issues with Python, thanks to WikidPad[5], which still runs as a decade old Windows binary, but fails because of breaking changes to WxPython. [1] https://stoical.sourceforge.net/documentation.php https://stoical.sourceforge.net/documentation.php [2] https://xkcd.com/356/ https://xkcd.com/356/ [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30957273 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30957273 [4] https://github.com/mikewarot/mstoical https://github.com/mikewarot/mstoical [5] https://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/ https://wikidpad.sourceforge.net/