DC> [TP .EXE's not initing variables]
 
 MC>    I've always deplored this behavior (the IDE does which I don't
 MC> use), since it leads most newbie (or lazy) programmers to believe
 MC> that Pascal _does_ initialize variables...so the programmer doesn't
 MC> have to do this "extra work".  
 DC> Nice to know this :-) I'd *almost* become lazy in initialising
 DC> variables, since from what I could tell it was done for me, but I try
 DC> to make code that is easier to port and I couldn't garantee that
 DC> another platform would work the same. 
 DC> However, many of my variables are init'd the first time they're use
 DC> (eg A := C), is there anythin wrong with not setting A to 0 since it
 DC> gets the value of  C before being used anywhere else? 
   The principle is simple: the value of any Pascal variable is
_undefined_ until it's explicitly assigned (some value).  Thus, if you
always assure that the variable has a _defined_value_, you can use it
with assurance that it's okay.  Assigning it a value can be done in
several ways: an assignment statement (A := 0.0); an i/o statement which
places some value into it (Readln (A)); a function call which returns a
value (A := Sqrt(4.0)); and even a TP/BP "initialized variable"
(non-standard Pascal, of course).
   The point is to assure that _some_ value assignment has been done
prior to using a variable with any expected valid value.
... Can't Win, Can't Break Even, Can't Quit...
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