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        :                        W A R L 0 C K                      : 
                                                       
        :               which one to use?  c or pascal?             : 
                           by: [ne0_akt]                   ׿
    


ahh...  the joys of programming.  we have a whole plethora of languages we
can choose from, be it c, pascal, fortran, ratfor, algol, basic, php, perl
or anything else.

while it's true that different programming languages are targeted for dif-
ferent tasks, people still find it worth their while to hail their beloved
one and damn every one else into flaming hell.

that holds especially true in the "language war" between c and pascal.

ever since i can remember, pascal afficionados have been consigned to hell
by c coders, calling them (us) quiche-eaters, and refusing to believe that
are are "real men".

pascal coders have also found it worth their while to flame programmers in
c, calling them (us) "macho-wannabes" and 'k-rad turds" to name a few.

but when you start to look at it from an objective point of view, which is
the real viable programming language to learn and use?


author::credentials
-------------------
i don't have much under my belt.  all of the programs i've released so far
are coded in either pascal or mpl, a bbs scripting language for mystic.

but that doesn't mean i don't know c.  oh i know c --  i study c, dream c,
sin in c, heck i think of c every time i jack off.  i'm also proficient in
c-like languages, like perl and php.  fairly proficient, but no genius.

i've been using computers ever since i could remember.  i am not like most
of you guys who've been in any scene for god-knows-how-long.  but i am not
stupid, despite popular belief, and i learn fast.

my first try at programming is with basic (isn't everyone's?).  'few years
later, i'm down with pascal.  then visual basic.  then delphi.  then c.

i don't want to write my whole history with computers in here and i'm sure
you didn't open up this text file to read that.  so i'll get down to busi-
ness.



info::the whole kit and caboodle
--------------------------------
what do i know about c?  personally, not really much.  i'm not comfortable
with using it, either.  well...  maybe a bit comfortable, but not entirely
so.

the knowledge i do have from it comes from my friend grem, who's an visio-
nary in his own right.  i haven't seen any of his code yet, aside from mpl
scripts, but his ideas and finished shit are just damning.

he comes from a linux/windows background, and has experience with program-
ming in both platforms.  my knowledge comes from his posts.  from personal
conversations.  a general gist of his personality.

in one such post, he spoke of problems with linux, and not only about shit
in programming, but the general gist of the linux "community".  but i like
the part of the programming shit the most, so we'll focus there.

he related problems about programming gui style.  how the "opensource hip-
pies" tend to mislead you about several important things, like, what their
definition of the word "works" is, or how much gtk+ sucks.

in my perl programming book, the author noted how porting c code even bet-
ween flavors of unix is an art, that not many people have the patience nor
skill to do full time.  how it's tedious, difficult and time consuming.

and all this from a programming language that has been thought of as -the-
portable programming language to use.

pascal and its programmers have been the target of ridicule and pestering
for years.  decades even.  but look at where it is right now.

pascal is a great alternative to c, and delphi as a viable alternative to
c++.  but what about portability, you say?  what about it?

pascal compilers, debuggers and whatnots for other platforms have been a-
vailable for almost forever.  i'd dare say that for every platform c code
can be compiled on, there's a corresponding pascal compiler.

and for gui apps...  kylix and delphi are an unbeatable pair.  write your
code in windows, refrain from windows api bullshit, save, send to a linux
buddy, compile in kylix and you're done for the day.

unfortunately, that's not something you could say for something in c.

don't get me wrong -- i love pascal and i love c too.  pascal is my food.
i may study c, dream c, sin in c and jack off to c, but pascal i count on
pascal for my daily nutrition.

c is a very terse language.  i love its minimalism;  being fairly minima-
listic myself, i could certainly appreciate it.  but i wouldn't use it in
my big projects.  i'd use it for my fun shit, but you won't see me with c
in things i have to deliver semi-working in a week.

pascal certainly has its pitfalls -- what they are i don't know, but it's
plain ridiculous to say a language doesn't have any.  c has them too.

at the end of the day, it's all about using the language you're comforta-
ble with, not with what eats (grem likes quiche's;  and i don't know what
they are), or if one's macho, but it's with what one likes to use.
