Turbo Pascal

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Turbo Pascal

Turbo Pascal 7.0 Scrren.png
Turbo Pascal 7.0 with English user interface under DOS
Basic data

developer Borland , Anders Hejlsberg
Publishing year 1983
Current  version 7.01
(1993)
operating system PC-compatible DOS , CP / M , CP / M-86 , Microsoft Windows 3 , Mac OS Classic
programming language Assembly language
category Compiler , IDE
License EULA ( proprietary )
German speaking Yes

Turbo Pascal is an integrated development environment (IDE) from Borland for the programming languages Pascal and Object Pascal .

history

The compiler was based on the Blue Label Software Pascal Compiler, which was originally developed by Anders Hejlsberg for the cassette- based operating system NAS-SYS of the Nascom microcomputer . This compiler was first developed as a Compass Pascal compiler for the CP / M operating system and then as a Turbo Pascal compiler for MS-DOS and CP / M. A version for the Apple Macintosh was also briefly available in 1986.

Turbo Pascal 1.0

Turbo Pascal 1.0 from 1983

The first version of Turbo Pascal was released in November 1983, at a time when the concept of integrated development environments was still relatively new. A programmer had at that time on a IBM compatible PC is essentially the choice between the supplied DOS Microsoft BASIC - interpreter or a professional and expensive BASIC, C - Fortran - or Pascal compiler ( UCSD Pascal ). The compilers were rather awkward to use: In the absence of multitasking under MS-DOS , each test run consisted of exiting, starting and reloading the various tools (editor, compiler, linker , debugger ) that are necessary for software development. Since most PCs at this time no hard drives have (such a cost at least $ 2,000 at the time), had according to the number of floppy drives even several times the disk to be replaced.

Turbo Pascal got into this situation with the concept of an integrated development environment that combined the various tools in one program. It was also just about 60 kB in size and ran at high speed on every PC at the time. Even on a PC with only one floppy disk drive, it was not necessary to change the floppy disk, as there was enough space on the Turbo Pascal floppy disk for the program that was just being edited. After all, the system was affordable even for schoolchildren and students - with the result that it became the quasi-standard on the PC during the 1980s.

Subsequent versions

Without Turbo Pascal, the Pascal language would surely have met the same fate as many “artificial languages” born before and after at universities, e. B. Modula-2 or Oberon (both also by Niklaus Wirth ), which have practically disappeared today. Hejlsberg continued to develop the language and the system pragmatically: from the beginning, the runtime library was supplemented with routines (subroutines) that enabled access to the system - completely contrary to Wirth's original concept. It was - unlike z. For example, in the C language, the strict type check that is typical for Pascal is retained (both have advantages and disadvantages: a strict check reduces the risk of unwanted misbehavior of a program, but usually makes the source text longer and makes it necessary to consciously close functions for type conversion use). The more extensive a program package becomes, the more important such functions become, which is why other programming languages, such as C ++ , Java and C , have adopted these concepts to varying degrees.

Version 3

In September 1986 graphics were added to the MS-DOS version. This was the last version that also appeared for CP / M , but without the graphics options (except for the Graphix Toolbox of the Schneider CPC ), since most CP / M computers are not graphics-capable. There were three different versions of MS-DOS that made it possible to generate different code for emulated floating point code, coprocessor- oriented code, and BCD code . Commercial program libraries are offered, but these must be included in the source code using INCLUDE.

Version 4

In December 1987, the unit concept was added, which made libraries and large projects possible. The insertion of assembler parts into the source text was supported with inline codes.

Version 5

In October 1988 the debugger was integrated into the development environment. This made it possible to debug, set breakpoints and observe variable values ​​within the IDE.

Version 5.5

Object orientation was added in May 1989 .

Version 6
Version 6.0 from 1990 (in Turbo Vision style)

In November 1990 an object-oriented GUI library was added ( Turbo Vision ), similar to the later MFC for Windows . Turbo Vision was designed for the PC's text mode , but already included controls such as windows, command buttons and scroll bars represented by text symbols. In addition, it was possible to implement (even more extensive) assembler functions in Intel syntax directly in the source text. The development environment was expanded accordingly, so that assembler parts could also be executed in single-step mode with simultaneous checking of all flag and register contents.

Turbo Pascal for Windows 1.0

came on the market parallel to version 6. The GUI was designed entirely as a Windows application; it was adopted and expanded in version 7 (Borland Pascal).

Version 7
Turbo Pascal 7.0 installation disks

In October 1992, the professional version (Borland Pascal) could be used to develop protected mode applications within the IDE - but without an integrated debugger. In April 1993 there was a later / bug-fixed version 7.01; this was also the last Pascal version published by Borland.

Turbo Pascal was ported to Windows in the early 1990s. However, this was a dead end. Programming under Turbo Pascal for Windows was as complex as in C - with the additional disadvantage that Windows itself is programmed in C, which is why the interfaces between Windows and Pascal program require at least basic C knowledge. Borland subsequently adapted the rapid application development principle, which had already proven itself very well in Microsoft's Visual Basic : The graphic elements of a Windows application are compiled with the mouse and the associated code is generated automatically. This product was called Delphi and the underlying language is Object Pascal from Borland.

Publication as freeware

In 2002 Borland released several Turbo Pascal versions as freeware on its own website after they became "antique software" ( abandonware ). The latest published international version is TP 5.5, but the French version of the newer TP 7.01 has been published. The downloads are still available on the successor website to Embarcadero .

Alternatives / further developments

With Free Pascal and GNU Pascal there are two Turbo-Pascal-compatible free compilers that are available for numerous operating systems. The development of Virtual Pascal , however, was stopped, although there is still a large community.

Example (hello world program)

program HalloWelt;
begin
  WriteLn('Hallo Welt!');
  ReadLn; { Wartet auf Eingabe des Benutzers, ansonsten würde das Programm sofort wieder beendet. }
end.

literature

  • Michael Starke: Borland Pascal 7.0. The book . TLC The Learning Companie 1993, ISBN 978-3-89362-288-7 .
  • Karl-Hermann Rollke: The Borland Pascal 7.0 book . Sybex-Verlag GmbH 1995, ISBN 978-3-8155-0071-2
  • Reiner Schölles: The big book on Turbo and Borland PASCAL 7.0 Data Becker GmbH + Co.Kg 1994, ISBN 978-3-89011-588-7
  • Irene Bauder, Jürgen Bär: Borland Pascal 7.0. The compendium. Introduction. Workbook. Reference book . Pearson Education 1998, ISBN 978-3-87791-450-2

Web links

Commons : Turbo Pascal  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Downloads
  • bdn.borland.com/museum ( Memento from December 6, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) - Possibility of free and legal downloading of versions 1.0, 3.02 and 5.5 of Turbo Pascal (only for MS-DOS) in the "Museum" of the Borland Developer Network (dated December 6, 2003)
  • www.frameworkpascal.com - The company TMT offers Turbo Pascal clones for 32-bit systems, a stripped-down version is free of charge.
additional

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Turbo Pascal . Byte, July 1984.
  2. David Intersimone: Blue Label Software Pascal -> Compas Pascal -> Poly Pascal -> Turbo Pascal v1.0. Embarcadero Blogs, November 2, 2008.
  3. Vetusware - Borland Turbo Pascal 1.1 for Macintosh [1]
  4. a b c d e f g Borland Turbo Pascal Reference Manuals ( English , PDF), 2nd. Edition, Borland International Inc., February 1, 1984 (Retrieved November 29, 2012).
  5. Antique Software: Turbo Pascal v5.5 . In: CDN »Museum . Borland Software Corporation. Archived from the original on February 3, 2004. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 1, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / bdn.borland.com
  6. Téléchargements - Gratuits: Compilateurs Delphi, Pascal & C / C ++ . Borland Software Corporation. May 2, 2002. Archived from the original on August 13, 2003. Retrieved October 22, 2013: “ Note to international users: This free Turbo Pascal 7 is available in French Only. The US version of Turbo Pascal 7 is not available as free download yet. For the US version please download Turbo Pascal 5.5 US below. Thanks. "
  7. David Intercontinental Simone: Antique Software: Turbo Pascal v1.0 . Embarcadero Technologies. February 1, 2000. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  8. David Intersimone: Antique Software: Turbo Pascal v3.02 . Embarcadero Technologies. February 10, 2000. Retrieved October 22, 2013.