Today technology is moving forward at a very fast pace and it will continue to grow in the future as well. It is also at a high level because all industries and organizations today are focusing on digitizing everything in this world.
People were unaware of the emerging technological trend a few years ago. But nowadays they are growing very fast and vast. Everything is digitizing with the help of technology.
In the technology field, programmers are in high demand with different technical skills like programming, cloud technologies, etc.
Many programming languages, such as C, C++, JavaScript, Python, and Pascal, are available in the industry. All languages have different advantages, making them popular in industries.
Almost every programmer is aware of Java, JavaScript, and C++ programming language but some people do not know that much about Pascal.
Here in this blog we will discuss about pascal programming along with what Is pascal programming language used for?” and its features, advantages, etc. Let’s start with us. Note: To learn more about this programming language you can also take Pascal programming assignment help
What is the Pascal Programming Language?
Table of Contents
Pascal is a high-level programming language. It was made by Niklaus Wirth in the early 1970s as a teaching language.
It was designed to be easy to learn and understand, and to encourage good programming practices such as structured programming and data structuring.
The name “Pascal” is an homage to French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal.
Pascal is a procedural language, which means that it follows a top-down approach and the program is divided into procedures and functions.
It also has a simple, straightforward syntax and strong typing, which means that variables must be explicitly declared with a specific data type, and type checking is done at compile time.
It supports various data types like integers, real numbers, characters, and strings, and data structures like arrays, records, and sets.
This programming language is most suited as an introductory course as it is mainly used to teach programming techniques.
Also read: What is sql used for
What is pascal programming language used for?
It can create projects for platforms, processors, and operating systems. You can write code in a convenient programming environment and, at the same time, use a convenient paradigm.
Now we discuss a few names of Operating systems created with the help of Pascal programming languages.
LisaOS (Operating system)
A computer based on this operating system was released by the American company Apple in 1983. It was a protected memory operating system that had high demands on the processor and, to some extent, on the storage system.
The operating system supported multitasking and a paging file (Virtual Memory). Using the paging field resulted in a strong slowdown. (Zolpidem) The Lisa software was mostly coded in Pascal to save development time, given the high complexity of the software.
Classic Mac OS
Classic Mac OS (not to be confused with modern operating systems) was released by the American company Apple in the eighties of the 20th century. It was written in Pascal.
STIML OS
STIML is a 32-bit operating system written by programmers with the nicknames Born in the USSR( wrote the Kernel) and Hinstance (wrote Pascal services ) in FreePascal, around 2006-2007. Distributed under the BSD license.
The developers tried to ensure compatibility with DOS and UNIX systems. The structure of the microkernel is written in Assembler.
StreamOS
StreamOS is a 32-bit operating system written in 2008-2009 in object Pascal using FreePascalCompiler. The stream file system is also supported like UNIX by embedded virtual systems.
Classios
Classios (previously called PetrOS). A 32-bit operating system has been around since 2008 until the video was released. The system is written in Object Pascal. The source code can be viewed in the repository at SourceForge.net.
Free Pascal Operating System(FPOS)
Free Pascal Operating System is a 32-bit operating system that has been developed since 2010 in the FreePascal language by Yacine REZGUI, a programmer from Algeria.
The latest update found dates back to 2021. Fat12 file system and various peripherals are supported (Peripherals devices Like desktops, printers, laptop servers, and so on ).
Able to work with a speaker, has a memory manager, console, and much more. Distributed under the GPL-2.0 license.
Laksen /FP-RTOS
FP-RTOS, the operating system, was developed in Pascal and Assembler for devices based on the ARM architecture.
Development began 10 years ago. The last update found was in 2016. The source code is distributed under the MIT license on GitHub. Developer Laksen develops it.
Apple
Apple has always (and still is) supporting Pascal language – it was the main language in The Classic MacOS, and many legacy apps (An example could be mainframe applications that became legacy apps when the IT industry embraced client/server networks.) started up in it.
Until now, Object Pascal has been officially supported by XCode as a legacy language.
Banking
Pascal is a general-purpose programming language that can be used for a wide variety of applications, including those in the banking industry.
Here are a few examples of how Pascal might be used in banking:
- Automating banking transactions: Pascal can be used to create programs that automate the processing of banking transactions such as deposits, withdrawals, and transfers.
- Calculating interest and other financial calculations: Pascal can be used to create programs that perform calculations such as interest, loan payments, and amortization schedules.
- Database management: Pascal can be used to create programs that interact with databases containing customer information, account balances, and transaction histories.
- Risk management: Banks use complex models to estimate and manage the risk associated with different financial products and investments. These models can be implemented in Pascal.
- Automation of reports: Pascal can be used to create programs that generate reports such as account statements, financial reports, and compliance reports.
- Automation of compliance: Banks are subject to many regulations and compliance checks. Pascal can be used to create programs that automate compliance checks and reporting.
It’s worth noting that many of this task are nowadays performed using more specialized languages like C#, Java, Python or C++ and are mainly used for maintenance and older systems which still run on Pascal.
Features in Pascal Programming Language.
Pascal XE is an IDE for Pascal programming, it is user-friendly and designed specifically for beginners.
Pascal XE includes 3 free compilers:
– Virtual Pascal Compiler 2.1.279 (default)
– Free Pascal Compiler 3.0.4
– GNU Pascal Compiler 20070904
Features
- Easily switch between 3 compilers (VPC, FPC, and GPC).
- Completion proposal
- Smart errors indication.
- Description of compilation errors and their possible causes
- Contextual Pascal help (English/French)
- Code beautifier
- 13 syntax highlighter themes
- Multiple skins
- Multi-language user interface (English/Arabic/French)
- Quickly edit multiple lines with multiple carets
- Toggle case sensitive (Lower/Upper/Title/Alternate/Sentence)
- Print with/without Syntax highlighting
- Export to PDF
- Html Export
- Multi-tab
- Reopen recently closed tabs
- Clipboard History
- Search function
- Replace text in file/all opened files
- Line/word/character count
- Line numbering
Advantages of Pascal Programming Language
- The syntax of the language is very simple.
That allows you to quickly learn the language, write understandable commands in English, and so on. It takes work to read the code written in it.
The readability of the code is at a very high level.
And since the case of letters does not play a role in pascal.
This reduces the chance of calling the wrong identifier by mistake.
It is great for learning your first programming language and getting into programming in general.
He will not discourage desire with complex programming but rather, on the contrary, will show how simple and accessible it can be.
- The language is complete, and it can be used to solve almost any programming problem, with rare exceptions.
- The language is well structured.
This allows you to perfectly use it in education and teach programmers to correctly design and write code and get used to following program rules.
That will help later when switching to other languages.
The ability to express practically any algorithm of actions through constructions is also supported.
- Safety and reliability.
The language is designed so as not to arm the computer in the event of incorrectly written code.
- Very fast compiler.
Older versions claimed that Free Pascal Compiler was the fastest compiler in the world at the time.
- Pascal allows you to make insertions in the program’s code in assembler for lower-level programming and optimization of the program.
- Very low system requirements for software development.
You can develop a program even on very old and weak computers.
Also, thanks to the pascal n-ide application, you can program in Pascal even from a mobile phone under the Android operating system,
- Pascal allows you to use different approaches in programming, Unlike some competitors.
You can use classes and object-oriented programming ( with two mechanisms of polymorphic calling: classic virtual and dynamic), and you can use procedural programming with records, constants, and variables.
Window system calls are not formally object-based (as in POSIX systems like Linux and Mac OS). So Pascal is quick to work with them.
- The elements of the array can be numbered starting at least from Zero, even from one, and even from a thousand (and not just from zero).
Disadvantages of Pascal Programming Language
- There are fewer ready-made open-source projects and libraries on the network for pascal. And there are many places where you can get the necessary libraries and source codes.
They are scattered across the internet. Therefore, a programmer sometimes has to spend a lot of time looking for the right things.
- Pascal and most of its programming environments do not have automatic garbage collection and cleaning.
Of course, the operating system looks at the execution of your program in parallel and tries to clean up the memory behind your program.
Still, it is better to provide for the cleaning of memory inside the program, and you will have to do it manually or write your automatic garbage collector.
Or program in the Pascal ABC environment, it has an automatic garbage collector.
But garbage collectors also have disadvantages: this is the removal of something that did not need to be removed yet, and in some cases, the slowdown of the program, as well as a little more load on the computer.
The ability to manually manage memory directly is a more flexible approach.
Therefore, in some cases, direct memory management is even an advantage for Pascal.
- At the moment, Pascal is less widespread than in his best years.
This means it is more difficult to find a job as a programmer.
Of course, there are jobs and vacancies both in ads and freelance, but the choice could be better than that of some competitors.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed every basic thing along with what Is Pascal Programming Language Used For.
We hope the article is useful for you and that you found for yourself the answer to the question of whether it is worth learning this programming language and what is its current position.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What can you do with Pascal programming?
Pascal is a language used for making things like computer systems, banking programs, and teaching how to write good code. It can automate banking tasks, calculate money stuff, manage data, and help learn how to write programs correctly.
2. What’s special about Pascal’s language?
Pascal’s language is known for being easy to understand and read, and it helps to learn how to write good code. It’s very safe and doesn’t harm the computer even if the code is wrong. It’s also really quick to make programs using Pascal.
3. Are there good and bad things about using Pascal?
Pascal is good because it’s easy to learn, helps in teaching how to write good code, and can solve many problems. But, sometimes it’s hard to find extra stuff for Pascal, like different pieces to add to your programs. Also, not many companies use Pascal, which can make finding a job harder.