Subj : Re: Pascal vs C++
To : Wayne Harms
From : Scott Adams
Date : Wed Oct 16 2002 04:05 am
-=> Quoting Wayne Harms to Scott Adams <=-
SA> Yeah. I've done pascal since the early '80s though
SA> technically my first language was basic as it was for
SA> everyone then. Since then I've tried to learn more and up to
SA> about 26 langauges through college and work. But I still
SA> come back to pascal for home coding since its the easiest and
SA> less stressful than say C which I may do at work all day. As
SA> to open sourcing yes, its alot of material to deal with and
SA> can get bogged down in things.
WH> Just a bit curious about the main difference between Turbo Pascal ver
WH> 7.0 and C++. Both look like they are structured the same but hows the
WH> processing speed of the 2, which processes information faster?
Well C tends to sometimes be more bottom level coding in
terms of being at the lowest level (though ASMembly is).
Pascal gets that way but its more oriented toward human
interaction. Pascal uses english like structures that
use common sense in alot of ways whereas C tends to
use cryptic keywords and structures that at first glance
isn't english but alien to many. TP7 didn't do OOP
(object oriented programming) at that point I believe
the first...no wait..7 may have..hmm..I think I went
to tp5 to bp7..I know bp7 did but I dont' recall tp7
though i think it had OWL and other OOP oriented stuff
in it..err..I'm babbling..
While in many ways they are two distinct languages they
really aren't.
In terms of speed and efficiency.
Its debatable and has been a debate in the fido pascal
and C echos for over a decade. But it boils down to
one thing programming ability and skill level. In the
end its not the type of keywords english or cryptic
since that gets broken down into machine code but its
a matter of how you code things.
A simple loop can slow down a program greatly by
a simple mistake in both languages but its the
skill of the coder to know that mistake can work
or not work. So don't be swayed by things like
which is a better language but just develop your
own skills and then go from there.
I use both and a dozen or so other languages. If
you really in truly want speed and efficiency then
go assembly but even then today's compilers are so
advanced its a non-issue. I use C for most contracts
but use pascal at home. I'm an expert in pascal
but in C I still need the bloody online help :)
The issues of speed and efficiency died years ago
with the speed of computers today its a waste
to really consider unless your just writing some
real time intensive programs.
For years folks say C does better things than pascal
and vice versus. But over the years we've shown
that's a myth. Its programmer ability not lines
of code.
... Did I ever tell you that story? - Londo
--- Fringe BBS
* Origin: EWOG II - The Fringe - 904-733-1721 (1:112/91)
