paul@edpmgt.UUCP (Paul Parrish) (03/07/91)
My organization will soon be required to convert some of our existing software to PASCAL. We are mainly a COBOL and C shop and have very little resources in the area of PASCAL. However, we plan to train our own folks vs hiring experienced PASCAL people. We have purchased the Borland Turbo PASCAL 6.0 system for our PCs and we are ready to get "up to speed" before the conversion starts(September '91). What I am looking for is any input from you experts out there who may be aware of good reference materials and especially any self teaching/video courses that are on the market. Also, any recommendations for formal training in the southern California area would be helpful. Many thanks in advance! Paul J. Parrish (800) 350-3376 EDP Management, Inc. Fax: (619) 462-0418 5465 Lake Murray Blvd. La Mesa, CA 91942
roth@dtoa1.dt.navy.mil (Roth) (03/07/91)
I have used
DBCooper, OH! PASCAL!, W. W. Norton Co., 2nd (or later) edition, 1985.
as a text for teaching Pascal & found it very effective. Depending on the
experience of your gang, I expect that Cooper's book CANNED PASCAL might be
more help, since it's shorter and spends more time on syntax than on "how
to program". Cooper is at Univ Cal at Berkeley, so you might want to give
him a call.
I also recommend anything written by Niklaus Wirth. His texts include
SYSTEMATIC PROGRAMMING: AN INTRODUCTION, and ALGORITHMS + DATA STRUCTURES =
PROGRAMS. The latter has the best discussion of recursive programming I've
seen, with several great examples.
TP6.0 gives you Objects, which you will want to use.
I had (have) a hard time understanding the Borland documentation.
Therefore, I recommend that you also buy TurboPower's
OBJECT PROFESSIONAL package at approx $150. Three _big_ manuals, and you
get the *source code* to menu systems, pick lists, entry fields,
printer control, etc., etc. It is NOT completely compatible with TurboVision,
but its object oriented educational content alone is worth the price.
Their address: POBox 66747, Scotts Valley CA 95066 Phone 408-438-8608
and CIS address is 76004,2611.
Keep a diary during this change-over. It'll make fascinating reading
in about 2 years; publishing it might help others contemplating this
kind of thing.
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Peter N Roth roth@dtoa1.dt.navy.mil
Objects in this office are closer than they appear.