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From: cjl@iuvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang.mod2
Subject: Pascal vs. Modula-2
Message-ID: <8600013@iuvax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 2-Aug-84 13:50:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: iuvax.8600013
Posted: Thu Aug  2 13:50:00 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 01:43:48 EDT
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Nf-ID: #N:iuvax:8600013:000:1601
Nf-From: iuvax!cjl    Aug  2 12:50:00 1984



Recently cited in steveh's notes :
>Use Pascal if:
>       <500 lines (i.e. small simple task)
>       only one person working on it.
>
>Use Modula2 if:
>       requires several modules.
>       multiple people need to work on a project.

and Seaman's notes :
>  Despite Pascal's short commings as a general purpose programming
>  language, I still believe that it is one of the best languages to
>  teach beginning programmers.  Pascal is easier to learn than Modula,
>  and once it is learned the step to Modula will be easy.

there is some discussion about using Pascal in some circumstances.
I have different feeling about it. The single most serious mistake
about Pascal is its strict declaration order that precludes even a 
simulation of program modularization. We have been teaching classes
using Modula-2 for over 1.5 years. We saw students suffer
from Pascal by coding the declarations in Pascal order subconsciously.
Introducing MODULE later normally means correcting a serious bad habit, 
not extending the small core of basic programming idea.
Therefore the idea of MODULE, although new, must be included in 
in the introductory language. It is just too ESSENTIAL to be left out.

An introductory language should be simple, but not too simple.
A "simple" language like Fortran could mean difficulties and pain 
for program developing and maintenance. So even for a small program
I see no reason why Pascal is more favorable than Modula-2. 
We don't mean small programs don't need modularization, do we?

C.J. Lo
Dept. of CSCI, IUPUI

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