[Info-vax] VMS documentation, was: Re: Special deals on Tape Drives

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 3/16/22 19:53, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 3/16/2022 6:35 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> On 3/15/22 19:44, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> On 3/14/2022 6:51 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>>> On 3/14/22 18:15, Simon Clubley wrote:
>>>>> On 2022-03-14, Bill Gunshannon <bill.gunshannon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Been there, done that.  Took the Jensen and Wirth "Users Manual and
>>>>>> Report" with me on vacation and learned Pascal in two weeks.
>>>>>
>>>>> Pascal's a little easier to learn than C++. :-)
>>>>
>>>> The much more experienced programmers where I was working at the time
>>>> would not agree with you.
>>>
>>> Most would agree with Simon.
>>>
>>> C++ is a way more complex language than Pascal.
>>>
>>> Or to qualify it: ISO C++ is way more complex
>>> than ISO non-extended Pascal and more complex than
>>> VMS Pascal.
>>>
>>> (Object Pascal and Delphi are probably as complex
>>> as ISO C++)
>>>
>>> Just the fact that C++ support procedural, object oriented,
>>> generic and in recent versions functional programming ensures
>>> that.
>>
>> You misunderstood.  :-)
>>
>> I didn't mean they would have thought (C++ hadn't been invented yet
>> at that point in time) C++ easier to learn than Pascal.
> 
> Well - you replied to "Pascal's a little easier to learn than C++."
> with "The much more experienced programmers where I was working at
> the time would not agree with you.".

True.  They would have believed both were too complex.  Neither
easier.  The problem when you come from a mainframe environment
and don't believe anything smaller is usable in a production
environment.

> 
>>                                                         They would
>> have believed both were too complex to learn and should not have been
>> considered for introduction into the production environment.
>>
>> Most of them couldn't even do PL/I and none of them could do assembler.
> 
> I think it would have been difficult to find a language easier to learn
> than Pascal. It is very easy to learn. No surprise since that is what it
> was designed for.

I had no problem with it.  As a result I got to do all the cool
stuff o n the new micro-computers that were rearing their ugly
heads in 1980.  I got to do MACRO-11, Z80 Assembler, M68K assembler
and, eventually I even did assembler on the Univac 1100 mainframe.
I considered the learning experience a bonus.  Most of the people
I worked with only saw it as more work.

To the best of my knowledge most of them eventually retired as
applications programmers whereas I got to move on to some really
interesting stuff before settling into academia.


bill