Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcso!mjs
From: mjs@hpfcso.HP.COM (Marc Sabatella)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: HP9000 Pascal Buglist / Wishlist
Message-ID: <7370009@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Date: 5 Oct 89 15:55:28 GMT
References: <2258@mva.cs.liv.ac.uk>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Lines: 31

>   - any normal user can fill the disk in less than one minute. Compiling the
>   same program on Series 300 machines results in a less dramatic executable
>   size (69K).

As you seem to realize, this is not so much a Pascal defect as a lack of user
disk quotas.

>2. Otherwise clause in a Case statement is compulsory at run-time

Standard Pascal does not even have an otherwise clause; it is indeed an error
if you don't cover each case individually.

>   Call me stupid if you want, but I can't understand why pc on the Series 800
>   has a -O option (optimisation), but the Series 300 pc does not...

The 800 pascal compiler shares the same code generator as C and Fortran, and
hence can use the same optimizer.  The 300 compiler compiles one-pass-direct-to
object file, and doesn't even share the assembler.

>As I think has already been mentioned, it is clear that Series 300 and Series
>800 Pascal are written by different people within HP. This does lead to
>differences in HP Pascal behaviour that, whilst not difficult to work around,
>are just a little bit too niggly to go away that easily.

True.  We are investigating merger strategies (there is also Apollo Pascal to
consider now!), but don't hold your breath :-(

--------------
Marc Sabatella
HP Colorado Language Lab
marc%hpfcrt@hplabs.hp.com