GNU Pascal
Encyclopedia
GNU Pascal is a Pascal compiler
composed of a frontend to GNU Compiler Collection
(GCC), similar to the way Fortran
and other languages were added to GCC. GNU Pascal is ISO
7185 compatible, and it implements "most" of the ISO 10206 Extended Pascal standard.
The major advantage of piggybacking GNU Pascal on the GCC compiler is that it is instantly portable
to any platform the GCC compiler supports.
In July 2010 a developer publicly asked opinion on the future of GNU Pascal, due to developer shortage and maintenance issues as a GCC port. There was a lively discussion on the maillist where the developers seemed to lean towards reimplementing in C++ with a C code generating backend. The maillist went to sleep again, and no further releases or announcements had been made.
Compiler
A compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
composed of a frontend to GNU Compiler Collection
GNU Compiler Collection
The GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
(GCC), similar to the way Fortran
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
and other languages were added to GCC. GNU Pascal is ISO
International Organization for Standardization
The International Organization for Standardization , widely known as ISO, is an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from various national standards organizations. Founded on February 23, 1947, the organization promulgates worldwide proprietary, industrial and commercial...
7185 compatible, and it implements "most" of the ISO 10206 Extended Pascal standard.
The major advantage of piggybacking GNU Pascal on the GCC compiler is that it is instantly portable
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to any platform the GCC compiler supports.
In July 2010 a developer publicly asked opinion on the future of GNU Pascal, due to developer shortage and maintenance issues as a GCC port. There was a lively discussion on the maillist where the developers seemed to lean towards reimplementing in C++ with a C code generating backend. The maillist went to sleep again, and no further releases or announcements had been made.
External links
- The GNU Pascal (GPC) website
- Standard Pascal — Resources and history of original, standard Pascal
- Pascal User's Group Newsletters — An early Pascal history resource that contains many letters from Wirth and others concerning Pascal.
- Pascal and its Successors — An article by Niklaus Wirth about the development of Pascal, Modula-2 and Oberon
- Free Pascal Compiler — A currently maintained alternative to the GNU Pascal Compiler - See also Wikipedia article on Free PascalFree PascalFree Pascal Compiler is a free Pascal and Object Pascal compiler.In addition to its own Object Pascal dialect, Free Pascal supports, to varying degrees, the dialects of several other compilers, including those of Turbo Pascal, Delphi, and some historical Macintosh compilers...