> PE> Start with Pascal in preference to C, DEFINITELY.  You might want to
 > PE> consider using Modula-2 instead of Pascal.

 > Hmmm .. (turns up nose, shakes head violently .. spews forth
 > green goo..);  tried Modula-2 once (promise, didn't inhale),
 > not overly impressed.  Some nice features, but in the
 > process, they (well, he) threw away some very decent Pascal
 > features, too.

Ah, but those "Pascal features" are not features of ISO Pascal
(which Borland Pascal decidedly is NOT).

Modula-2 is a brilliant language, and I prefer it by far to C. However,
there's not much demand for it in the marketplace and only a handful of
vendors, none of whom seem to be keeping abreast of current operating
systems and environments.

But, since everyone seems to be voicing an opinion on C vs Pascal - if the
ultimate aim is to learn C, then stopping by Pascal in between is a waste
of time - there is nothing useful taught in Pascal that cannot be learned
in coming to grips with C, and plenty of useless things taught which aren't
necessary in C.

If you want to learn "a language", want to start with something
easier, and you're prepared to face the fact that it won't be portable
outside of Mess Dross, then Turbo Pascal will do fine.  Plenty of folks
learned TP first prior C - myself included - but imho there was nothing
there which provided any significant advantage in learning C.  Familiarity
with assembler and assembly language concepts (particularly indirection and
pointers) is, however, an advantage.


  david

---




SD®¯*æ+