Introdution of PASCAL programming language

[linhtv]

Intro
Welcome to Pascal Programming Website - a website which is particularly designed to help you learn the pascal programming language very quickly and interactively! Enjoy surfing through the site and reading the lessons built purposely for those who would like to get themselves familiar and to get capable of writing structured Pascal programs.

The Pascal Programming Language
If you stepped into the site to start learning Pascal, you are in the right track! There are'nt any special pre-requisites to learn Pascal. Thus, you can start learning it straight away! Pascal is a very easy language, and helps beginners to introduce them to other languages, before they can start to learn C or C++ or any other advanced language (such as JAVA).

What is PASCAL?
Pascal is an ordinary high-level language which is widely used as a starting or as a teaching language. However, nowadays Pascal is sometimes preferred to other languages, and could be useful to solve technical problems. It is not necessary to learn any other easier language to start learning Pascal, or any of that sort. It is a very easy programming language and helps you to understand the basics of the world of programming. Also, it greatly helps you in order to start learning the C programming language. I had different experiences, one of which I learned Pascal, and then moved to C programming very easily. The Pascal programming language has its structure and syntax very similar to that of the C programming language.

A General Overview of Low-Level and High-Level Languages

There are two main categories of programming levels; these are low-level and high-level languages. The terms 'low' and 'high' does not mean that a group of 'low-level' languages are inferior to the 'high' ones. A low-level language consists of machine-oriented programming. For example, machine code is the only language with which the CPU understands. The other most-common low-level language, is the Assembly language. The Assembly language has a structure of machine-oriented programming. The Assembly Language, in other words, has a major control of the computer hardware. The Assembly Language makes use of mnemonics and has a better relationship with the memory and the CPU unit far more than that of other programming languages. The Assembly language is sometimes used as part of the source code written in Pascal.

A high-level language consists of all those languages which are problem-oriented. A low-level language is not user-friendly, that is, makes it hard for the user to understand the structure of the program. Pascal, C/C++, BASIC, COBOL, Fortran, etc.. are examples of high-level programming languages. High-level languages represent their source code in such a way that it is more understandable to the programmer.

Machine code is a language which uses binary coding in its source codes. What do you understand by 0001001011 010101 1001110? It's machine code - the only language which is understandable by the CPU.

Interpreters and Compilers

Every high-level language has its own source which needs to be translated into the CPU's language - machine code. These translators are referred to as interpreters and compilers. A high-level language package contains either an interpreter, or a compiler, with which a high-level language uses to translate the source code into object code.

An interpreter is more slower than a compiler, the fact that it has to be loaded into memory till the end of the translation of the program. It is less practical than the compiler. However, the interpreter can be helpful for correcting out errors in programs i.e. it is ideal for debugging. A compiler is faster due to its single, complete translation of the program into object code. A compiler, compiles the source code (with no syntax errors) and makes a copy of it. This copy is called the 'object code'. After it has been compiled, it does not need a recompilation (unless the source code is changed and a recompilation is required to affect the change). The object code used by the OS in order to execute the compiled program.

Where Can I Get A Compiler?

For any student who tends to learn Pascal, starting from today, the best thing he should do is to search for a Pascal compiler, before he start learning Pascal. If you would like a compiler which runs under windows environment and GUI, then you can click here. The most famous compiler is the latest Borland Turbo Pascal 7.0, and is highly difficult to find it out on the market. However, the 'museum of traditional pascal' of Borland is giving out (pascal) compilers for free because of their old age. [ Note: It is important to use the Borland's Pascal Compiler because it is widely used ]

Turbo Pascal 5.5 is free: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD