Dear Frank,
I have now read the report in full, and enjoyed it. Thank you for your explanation of how GPC works.
Re: Why Continue Using Pascal?
I want to continue using Pascal. In fact, I can't see myself using another language. I can't send my non-engineering colleages snippets of C code. They can't make head or tail of C code. But I can extract sections of Pascal directly from my source code and put it in my manuals, and they can see how it works right away. So I'm sticking with Pascal. It saves me a lot of time and effort.
Re: Graphical User Interfaces with Pascal.
I don't see any sense in using compiled code for graphical user interfaces when we have interpreters like TclTk and others that provide graphical user interafaces based upon scripts that can be run on any platform. There are hundreds of people working on these interpreters, and there is no way we can compete with their product, nor any reason to.
I use Pascal for computationally intensive operations upon objects in memory. I pass the results of image analysis, list sorts, or pattern construction to TclTk for rendering on the screen. It works fine. I have had no particular trouble linking to the TclTk libraries, which are compiled from C.
When I don't need graphics, I often use Pascal on its own for terminal input and output and file input and output. I use the microsecond system timer (althought it does not work in GPC on Windows) and the random number generator.
When it comes to debugging, I am always able to get by with writeln statements and looking at the console on Linux or MacOS. On Windows GPC has no particular place to write to, so I have more trouble there. But I place the debugger as a low-priority item.
Thus, I see no need for Pascal to provide more than its existing rudimentary interface with the local operating system (although the Windows version should be brought up to the level of the others).
Re: Self-Compiled GPC or Translation to C++
If the GPC compiler were written in GPC, I could work on fixing bugs. I would be happy to write or maintain the code that implements the mathematical run-time library (sin, cos, etc.). I understand that the self-compiling compiler requires a complete re-write. But if you could break the problem down into twenty sections, I expect you could find enough of us to take on most of the work and do it in a reasonable time.
As you seem to say in your report, the problem with a compiler written in C for Pascal users is that most of the people using Pascal are the very same people who loath writing C code. If they did not loath C, they would be writing C instead of being branded as weirdos for writing in Pascal.
Whatever you decide to do, I will support you to the extent that I am able. Thank you for all your work on GPC. It is a splendid complier.
Yours, Kevan