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I'm a Pascal programmer, I'm ok at it. I look at the newer stuff that's come down the pike in the 40 years I've been programming, and there are some good things, but a lot of dreck that came with it. The biggest loss is the desktop as a primary platform for the user. Putting the internet and at least 3 different scripting languages between the user, and they data they're meant to interact with is a bad, bad idea. It doesn't matter how good your programming skills are, if you have available time, and use it to clean up problems as you notice them, paying off your technical debt, and clearly marking any that remains with clear and complete comments noting the problems that remain. It's like leaving signs around minefields, it might save your own hide some day. I can write anything, I've written in lots of languages, but none of them match my style of thinking better than Pascal. I like the fact that := is hard to mix up with =. I like the fact that you can only assign one thing at a time. I like that strings just deal with allocation on their own (free pascal/lazarus/delphi all do this). You almost never have to deal with pointers. If you want code that is legible years later, I'm your guy. If you want the fastest possible implementation in language X, good luck. Being a good workman, and doing your craft well is nothing to be ashamed of. Be professional, don't ever build sub-standard programs, and you'll be able to sleep well. |