[Info-vax] Better languages than BASIC

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 1/12/2024 6:15 AM, Marc Van Dyck wrote:
> Amazing that in current programming languages discussions, PASCAL is
> never mentioned anymore. I understand that it has lost a lot of momentum
> and never was a big success outside of the academic field, which used to
> be a DEC stronghold way in the past. But in this case, why is VSI (and
> before that HPE) still supporting that language today ? It cannot be
> customer base, can it ? It is certainly not seen as a language of the
> future either... So why ? Just because John likes it, or what ?
> 
> I'm still doing all my programming in Pascal... Now that I'm retired, no
> one else at my former work uses it anymore. They keep a one user license
> to maintain my code, if it is ever needed. But I'm afraid this compiler
> will feel very lonely...

There are VMS Pascal applications out there. Pascal question
do come up here and at the VSI forum.

In many ways Pascal is in the same boat as Basic.

VMS Pascal was a great language in the 80's.

It never got extended with as much stuff as some other
Pascal dialects (object-Pascal, Delphi etc.).

But it could!

Pascal and Basic seems to be the most promising languages
for modernization if VSI want to do anything with native
languages besides C++.

Arne