[copsarebastards]

> Syntax limits everything, it only becomes more important as you're doing hard things. Being able to fit 10% more code on screen is a lot like being 10% smarter, which is the kind of thing you need to make the hard problems even possible.

Yes, syntax limits everything, and being able to fit 10% more on the screen is a lot like being 10% smarter. But libraries, available techniques, and built-in features limit everything a lot more. Being able to do 500% more with the same amount of code is a lot like being 500% smarter. If you're piddling around with 10% increases like a switch from Pascal to C, you're wasting everyone's time. Switch to a higher-level language that's more closely suited to the problem you're trying to solve and you'll trivially be writing a fifth of the code you'd be writing in C[1]. So like I said: C is not the solution to your problem.

And that's being generous to your assumption that Pascal -> C actually even does give you a 10% boost: I think given that you'll be writing the same bounds-checking incantation everywhere in C which you wouldn't be writing in Pascal, the semantics probably negate the syntax very easily.

[1] There's one exception: where C is the language most closely suited to your problem. However, this exception is much more rare than most people think.