> FM> might suggest C. As a minor quibble, Pascal (in the Borland
 > FM> 5.5+ versions, TP for Windows or Borland Pascal 7 if you
 > FM> want to do Windows) *is* object-oriented. FIM.

 > Another minor quibble, but Pascal (in the Borland 5.5+
 > versions, TP for Windows or Borland Pascal 7) is not Pascal.
 > Borland provide a number of non-standard extensions to the
 > Pascal language in order to provide these object oriented
 > features, but this ensures that their products are no longer
 > true Pascal.


Indeed. It evolved from USCD, but it took 'string' types to the limits -
and actually made the language useful for serious development. Ten years of
extensions and enhancements without any form of standardisation whatsoever
has evolved it into a completely different language. it is amusing to see a
proficient TP/BP programmer claim they know Pascal, yet come face to face
to reality when they're sat in front of a VMS system and asked to write an
ISO Pascal program. "Why can't I declare or concatenate a string? This
&&^$% thing doesn't understand typed constants! ... etc" :-)

If you enjoy Borland Pascal with objects, then looking at Objective-C is
probably worthwhile.  O-C can be found in any of the GNU compilers; in
fact, gcc allows you to mix Objective-C and C++ (pretty debauch, I know,
and very gcc specific).

BP's objects, however, are still a long way from complete, and there are
some major pitfalls in there for use as an OOP development tool. The only
thing going for it is its relative efficiency - because everything is
explicit, NOTHING gets done which isn't coded (in C++ and O-C, lots of
things happen 'behind the scenes' and are not optional, which in theory
makes them safer).


david

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SDŽ¯­@,