4 ms·
Don't forget UCSD Pascal! (Or maybe we should)
by vangale 11y ago
Don't forget UCSD Pascal! (Or maybe we should)
- jpindar 11y agoWhat was so bad about UCSD Pascal?
- WalterBright 11y agoS----L-----O-----W It was basically Java before machines got fast enough to make Java practical.
- cactusface 11y agoThen again you wouldn't have the initial JVM bytecode interpreter without p-code and the p-system, which were the bytecode and runtime environment used by UCSD Pascal. These were a direct inspiration for the Sun engineers developing Java.
- nsxwolf 11y agoDefinitely ahead of its time. For awhile it was possible to run the same applications on IBM, Apple II, TI-99/4A and more but it was cumbersome and it never had a "killer app". It was also difficult to transfer files between disparate platforms in those days. If there had ever been a p-code applications market, distribution would have still required separate boxed copies for different platforms.
- vangale 11y agoAs mentioned by others, it's pascal implementation and p-code concept were pretty cool. But it left a lot to be desired as an operating system. For example, IIRC, files had to be stored in continuous blocks on the disk and management of blocks were up to the user. If your file needed 10 blocks then you needed to find a hole on the disk with at least 10 blocks... which meant you might need to move other files around to make enough that hole.
- ArkyBeagle 11y agoTurbo Pascal was considerably better - it was the non-assembler systems programming language of choice for PeeCees until 'C' took over.
- vangale 11y agoWell yes, but it wasn't an alternative OS to MS-DOS and CPM :)
- ArkyBeagle 11y agoIndeed it wasn't! That was supposed to be under the question "what about Turbo Pascal"? I musta goofed.