Language progress? [partially OT]

[retard]

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 08:10:50 -0400, bearophile wrote:

> Paulo Pinto:
> 
>> I would say that whoever implemented the algorithms in C is not as good
>> as
>> the one who did them in Pascal. Or did not use the proper compiler
>> flags.
> 
> I don't know the answer, but I think both those hypothesis are not
> substantiated by facts, because in the Shootout site the C compiler
> flags are chosen carefully (they are chosen for speed), while the C
> programs are probably written a bit better than the Free Pascal ones

> Maybe the Free Pascal compiler is just better than
> GCC regarding static/stack memory usage.

My guess is, Pascal enforces a coding style that tries to minimize 
resource use. For example all local variables need to be defined before 
statements. It also lacks many high level constructs, which might contain 
inefficiencies the programmer isn't aware of.

> (Free Pascal uses ObjectPascal, it's a language quite far from the
> original Pascals).

I can assure you that most commercial / hobbyist users of Pascal haven't 
used the original Pascal since Moses was born. The early Turbo Pascal 
already got units (1987) and object-oriented features [ == Object Pascal ] 
(1986 Mac, 1989 PC). Might be the case that you weren't even born when 
Object Pascal came.