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A [Pascal] compiler and dialect. TurboPascal 1.0 fit an [IDE] and very fast native [Compiler] into 26 kilobytes. It was the nicest programming enviroment around for [CP/M] computers and the early [MS-DOS] PCs. The [Pascal] dialect it implemented was very nearly as expressive a ProgrammingLanguage as [C], but safer and much more readable.

Check [the museum at Borland's community site|http://community.borland.com/museum/] if you're interested in gems like a free copy of TurboPascal 1.0 and 5.5, or see the [Pascal] entry for [Linux] compilers that grok TurboPascal code.

!!A brief history

* TurboPascal added full file I/O, string handling, and MachineCode inclusions to Standard [Pascal].
* TurboPascal 4 added [Modula2]'s modules, calling them Units.
* TurboPascal 5.5 added a [C++]-like ObjectOrientation.
* TurboPascal 6 was a huge leap forward. It finally allowed you to pass functions arrays of any size, included a built-in [Assembler], improved the ObjectOrientation support, and came with a text mode windowing class library called !TurboVision, which the new [IDE] was itself implemented in.

* For its next release, TurboPascal went __B.I.G.__ TurboPascal 7 was but a sidekick to ''real'' new version: Borland Pascal 7, a vast new toolset built to match the weight (and, so it was hoped, the success in business environments) of Borland [C++]. While TurboPascal 7 was [DOS]-only, Borland Pascal shipped with a [DPMI] driver which was its compiler's default target platform, freeing TurboPascal code from the 640kb prison. Alas, it was only 286-compatible 16-bit ProtectedMode, so the 64kb segment limit persisted - you just could now have many, many, many more of these chunks.
;: The [IDE] was again written in !TurboVision, and again took advantage of its own compiler's new features by running on top of its [DPMI] driver. Besides the usual one running on [DOS] in text mode, there was another identical one for [OS/2] and also a native MicrosoftWindows [GUI] [IDE], any of which could compile binaries for any of the four target platforms ([DOS], [DPMI], [OS/2], and 16-bit MicrosoftWindows). A class library called OWL (Object Windows Library) to write native MicrosoftWindows applications was also included, and featured an optional new "chiseled steel" look for widgets (BWCC, the Borland Windows Common Controls) that was much prettier than the ''very'' drab [Windows] default.

* TurboPascal for [Windows] 1.0 came soon after. It was much lighter than Borland Pascal, including a [Windows] [IDE] and the OWL only. The compiler only produced [Windows] binaries.
* TurboPascal for [Windows] 1.5 was padded with lots of library and tool additions (nine diskettes instead of six..).
* From its next rendition on the language was officially named ObjectPascal. The current version of the [IDE] is called [Delphi] and was a MicrosoftWindows-only [RAD] system. It was very popular and hugely successful particularly in Germany as well as Russia and the CIS.
* [Kylix] is a port of [Delphi] to [Linux].

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Last edited on Thursday, December 29, 2011 12:28:23 pm by "JennSpindler"
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