[comp.lang.pascal] Turbo Pascal History

fleurent@IRO.UMontreal.CA (Charles Fleurent) (02/06/91)

  If someone knows about Turbo Pascal history (or has a reference about it), I 
 would like to know what were the significative improvements for each version
 of Turbo Pascal and the time they were released. For instance, I know that 
 Turbo 5.5 implemented object-oriented programming. What about the earlier 
 versions? If someone has the time to E-mail me a very short answer, I would
 appreciate it very much. Thanks.


--
____________________________________________________________________________
|Charles Fleurent                      |                                   |
|Universite de Montreal,               | Telephone: (514) 343-6111 # 3549  |
|Dep. I.R.O., C.P. 6128, succursale A  | Fax: (514) 343-2155               |

ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) (02/06/91)

In article <1991Feb6.001222.15320@IRO.UMontreal.CA> fleurent@IRO.UMontreal.CA (Charles Fleurent) writes:
>
>  If someone knows about Turbo Pascal history (or has a reference about it), I 
> would like to know what were the significative improvements for each version
> of Turbo Pascal and the time they were released. For instance, I know that 
> Turbo 5.5 implemented object-oriented programming. What about the earlier 
> versions?

3.0
	the first version I know.  One executable, TURBO.COM, 39k,
	included library--editor--compiler.  Pretty awesome, eh?
	Silly 64k constraint on data and code. No seperate
	compilation.  Terrible overlaying.

4.0
	Units.  No 64k constraint.  Better overlaying.

(the climax as far as I'm concerned)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.0
	Integrated Development Environment
	debugger available from within environment

5.5
	OOP

6.0
	trash

7.0
	pond slime (windows)


Honestly, why did they go off into flaky stuff???!
How about writing a better compiler i.t.o. generating better
code?  Why not a -O where he compiles slower and emits better
code?  Why not better hooks for mixing (say) TP and TC?  Etc.!

-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
Ajay Shah, (213)734-3930, ajayshah@usc.edu
                              The more things change, the more they stay insane.
_______________________________________________________________________________

bobb@vice.ICO.TEK.COM (Bob Beauchaine) (02/07/91)

In article <29885@usc> ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes:
>3.0
>	the first version I know.  One executable, TURBO.COM, 39k,
>	included library--editor--compiler.  Pretty awesome, eh?
>	Silly 64k constraint on data and code. No seperate
>	compilation.  Terrible overlaying.

 Well, that's not the first edition.  I know Turbo had a 2.?, and
 possibly even a 1.?, though that's not for sure.
 As for the "silly" 64k constraint, the compiler only generated 
 .COM files, so blame the segmented architecture of the 80x88  
 processor as well as the fact that many computers didn't have
 more than about 128k of RAM at the time.

>4.0
>	Units.  No 64k constraint.  Better overlaying.

  Wrong again.  Overlays were removed in version 4.0 in favor
  of TPU files to overcome the single code/data segment by
  producing .EXE files.

>5.0
>	Integrated Development Environment
>	debugger available from within environment
>5.5
>	OOP
>6.0
>	trash
>7.0
>	pond slime (windows)

  Ok, so I might agree with you here about Windows. (No smiley).

>Honestly, why did they go off into flaky stuff???!
>How about writing a better compiler i.t.o. generating better
>code?  Why not a -O where he compiles slower and emits better
>code?  Why not better hooks for mixing (say) TP and TC?  Etc.!

  Thank you for the unecessary diatribe, but some of us like 
  multi-file editor sessions and Object Oriented Programming.
  Perhaps you don't agree with all of the changes made to 
  Turbo, but I suggest a week with Microsoft's Quick Pascal
  to re-orient your perspective. (Again, no smiley intended.)

Bob Beauchaine
bobb@vice.ICO.TEK.COM

ftpam1@acad3.alaska.edu (MUNTS PHILLIP A) (02/07/91)

In article <29885@usc>, ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes...
>In article <1991Feb6.001222.15320@IRO.UMontreal.CA> fleurent@IRO.UMontreal.CA (Charles Fleurent) writes:
>>
>>  If someone knows about Turbo Pascal history (or has a reference about it), I 
>> would like to know what were the significative improvements for each version
>> of Turbo Pascal and the time they were released. For instance, I know that 
>> Turbo 5.5 implemented object-oriented programming. What about the earlier 
>> versions?
>
1.0     Initial release for Z80 CP/M.  Generated fast code in an amazingly
        short amount of time.  This event marked the very zenith of CP/M.
        I remember a review with a comment something like this:  "No, our
        listed compilation times are not typographical errors!"

2.0     First version for the IBM PC.  A quick and dirty port of the CP/M
        compiler.  There was also a revision of the CP/M compiler, but I
        don't remember the changes.

>3.0
>	the first version I know.  One executable, TURBO.COM, 39k,
>	included library--editor--compiler.  Pretty awesome, eh?
>	Silly 64k constraint on data and code. No seperate
>	compilation.  Terrible overlaying.
>
        Also included lots of IBM specific goodies, as they were called.
        Purported to be the only editor or word processor that would run
        on a stock IBM PC jr.  Last revision of the CP/M compiler.

>4.0
>	Units.  No 64k constraint.  Better overlaying.
> 
>(the climax as far as I'm concerned)
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>5.0
>	Integrated Development Environment
>	debugger available from within environment
> 
>5.5
>	OOP
> 
>6.0
>	trash
> 
>7.0
>	pond slime (windows)
> 
> 
>Honestly, why did they go off into flaky stuff???!
>How about writing a better compiler i.t.o. generating better
>code?  Why not a -O where he compiles slower and emits better
>code?  Why not better hooks for mixing (say) TP and TC?  Etc.!
> 
>-- 
>_______________________________________________________________________________
>Ajay Shah, (213)734-3930, ajayshah@usc.edu
>                              The more things change, the more they stay insane.
>_______________________________________________________________________________

CDCKAB%EMUVM1.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu ( Karl Brendel) (02/07/91)

In article <1991Feb6.205927.8573@ims.alaska.edu>, ftpam1@acad3.alaska.edu
  (MUNTS PHILLIP A) wrote:

>In article <29885@usc>, ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes...
>>In article <1991Feb6.001222.15320@IRO.UMontreal.CA> fleurent@IRO.UMontreal.CA
> (Charles Fleurent) writes:
>>>
>>>  If someone knows about Turbo Pascal history (or has a reference about it),
>>> would like to know what were the significative improvements for each version
>>> of Turbo Pascal and the time they were released. For instance, I know that
>>> Turbo 5.5 implemented object-oriented programming. What about the earlier
>>> versions?
>>
>1.0     Initial release for Z80 CP/M.  Generated fast code in an amazingly
>        short amount of time.  This event marked the very zenith of CP/M.
>        I remember a review with a comment something like this:  "No, our
>        listed compilation times are not typographical errors!"
>
>2.0     First version for the IBM PC.  A quick and dirty port of the CP/M
>        compiler.  There was also a revision of the CP/M compiler, but I
>        don't remember the changes.

[...remainder deleted...]

Although 2.0 may have been the first release that had an IBM-specific
version, there was a 1.0 release for MS-DOS machines. I still have
it and the manual. The 1.0 MS-DOS release ran quite well on IBM PCs.
Working on a dual-floppy, 256K PC at that time, I copied the entire
TURBO.COM onto many work diskettes in order to use the Turbo editor.

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Karl Brendel                           Centers for Disease Control |
| Internet: CDCKAB@EMUVM1.BITNET         Epidemiology Program Office |
| Bitnet: CDCKAB@EMUVM1                  Atlanta, GA, USA            |
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dconway@hpldsla.sid.hp.com (Dan Conway) (02/08/91)

bobb@vice.ICO.TEK.COM (Bob Beauchaine) writes:
>>3.0
>>	the first version I know.  One executable, TURBO.COM, 39k,
>>	included library--editor--compiler.  Pretty awesome, eh?
>>	Silly 64k constraint on data and code. No seperate
>>	compilation.  Terrible overlaying.
> 
>  Well, that's not the first edition.  I know Turbo had a 2.?, and
>  possibly even a 1.?, though that's not for sure.

Version 1.0 did exist, but was for CP/M only.
Version 2.0 came out for both CP/M and MS-DOS.  It added support for dispose
(1.0 had mark and release only).  It also added limited graphics support in
the MS-DOS version only.  I read an article in Dr. Dobb's a few years ago that
mentioned that the original compiler was written by a consulting firm in
Denmark.

> Bob Beauchaine
> bobb@vice.ICO.TEK.COM

Dan Conway
dconway@hpldsln.sid.hp.com

zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au (Ross Alford) (02/08/91)

In article <1991Feb6.205927.8573@ims.alaska.edu> ftpam1@acad3.alaska.edu writes:
>In article <29885@usc>, ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes...
>>In article <1991Feb6.001222.15320@IRO.UMontreal.CA> fleurent@IRO.UMontreal.CA (Charles Fleurent) writes:
  ...
>1.0     Initial release for Z80 CP/M.  Generated fast code in an amazingly
>        short amount of time.  This event marked the very zenith of CP/M.
>        I remember a review with a comment something like this:  "No, our
>        listed compilation times are not typographical errors!"
>
>2.0     First version for the IBM PC.  A quick and dirty port of the CP/M
>        compiler.  There was also a revision of the CP/M compiler, but I
>        don't remember the changes.
>

I bought a CP/M version 1.0 with a serial number in the low-five-digit
range, so have some idea of the history.  You had to have been
programming in UCSD Pascal to appreciate the total revolution that Turbo
was at the time.  The major revision I recall between 1.0 and 2.0 was
that 2.0 allowed Dispose() on pointers.  Prior to that, only Mark and
Release were available for heap management.  2.0 also prettied up the
editor--the 1.0 editor lacked commands like ^W, ^Z, ^QE, ^QX.

BTW, even though I have since bought MSDOS Turbo, and upgraded that a
couple of times, Borland *still* send me upgrade offers based on my
original Version 1.0 package.  I can tell by the address.

Ross Alford
zlraa@marlin.jcu.edu.au
-- 
//DUXYZY01 JOB DU.D00.AA1234,ALFORD
// EXEC PGM=IEBCOPY
//OUT DD DSN=DU.E26.AC4672.Z11.ALFORD.OLDLIB,
// DISP=(NEW,CATLG),SPACE=(TRK,(10,,10),RLSE),UNIT=DISK,VOL=SER=DUK333  ... ACK!

wilker@gauss.math.purdue.edu (Clarence Wilkerson) (02/08/91)

I have to second the bombshell effect that Turbo Pascal for CP/M
had. People had been burned by a buggy slow-to-be-delivered
JRT PASCAL, and when Turbo Pascal came out it was not believed
at first. I had struggled with UCSD Pascal on a Heath 89.
Besides the slowness of the product, hardware devices were
impossible to add on if not supported in the release you bought.
I painfully dis-assembled the p-code interpreter and separated
it from the hardware support to produce a version that ran off
the CP/M bios, and thus could be adapted to different disk drives.
Shortly after the end of this grand achievement, Turbo Pascal
came out and made it all moot!
  Even on the PC, the difference in programming ease between
Turbo and Microsoft Pascal was striking. My estimate of one
colleague's skills went up several notches when he told me that
he had produced a running program under MS Pascal in under two
weeks.

Clarence Wilkerson

andrew@resam.dk (Leif Andrew Rump) (02/11/91)

In <27710002@hpldsla.sid.hp.com> dconway@hpldsla.sid.hp.com (Dan Conway) writes:
>                          I read an article in Dr. Dobb's a few years ago that
>mentioned that the original compiler was written by a consulting firm in
>Denmark.

NOTE: This may be folklore or just my bad decaying (core) memory  :-)

Anders Heiselberg (sp?) (now working for Borland International) created
PolyPascal in Denmark as an exam project. Evil tongues say that Turbo=
Pascal was PolyPascal with a menu system instead of a (better) command=
line interface. PolyPascal and TurboPascal co-existed for a long time
(PP didn't follow TP in the race of introducing new (buggy) procedures
and functions - instead PolyData(?) created files like database manager
that could be included in the same spirit as unit's today).

Development on PP stopped when TP4 was introduced. I think Anders was
brought to the states at that time and he (I don't know if he is the
one that should receive the credits?!?) introduced the lovely unit
idea and removed all the bugs from TP - Thanks!

Leif Andrew


Leif Andrew Rump, AmbraSoft A/S, Stroedamvej 50, DK-2100 Copenhagen OE, Denmark
UUCP: andrew@ambra.dk, phone: +45 39 27 11 77                /
Currently at Scandinavian Airline Systems                =======/
UUCP: andrew@resam.dk, phone: +45 32 32 51 54                \
SAS, RESAM Project Office, CPHML-V, P.O.BOX 150, DK-2770 Kastrup, Denmark

> > Read oe as: o <backspace> / (slash) and OE as O <backspace> / (slash) < <

dc@sci.UUCP (D. C. Sessions) (02/16/91)

In article <1991Feb11.084634.21730@resam.dk> andrew@resam.dk (Leif Andrew Rump) writes:
>Development on PP stopped when TP4 was introduced. I think Anders was
>brought to the states at that time and he (I don't know if he is the
>one that should receive the credits?!?) introduced the lovely unit
>idea and removed all the bugs from TP - Thanks!
>
>Leif Andrew

'Fraid not.  UNITS were an integral part of UCSD Pascal back in the '70s.
A feature that TP still hasn't adapted is the SEGMENT UNIT, which
provides completely integrated swapping.  As it happens, the 80x86 
environment (esp. in protected mode) is so well suited to this approach
that I still don't see why Borland hasn't added it *en passant*.
-- 
| The above opinions may not be original, but they are mine and mine alone. |
|            "While it may not be for you to complete the task,             |
|                 neither are you free to refrain from it."                 |
+-=-=-    (I wish this _was_ original!)        D. C. Sessions          -=-=-+

ephram@violet.berkeley.edu (Ephram Cohen) (02/21/91)

A number of people asserted that Version 1.0 was for CP/M only. Well it
was not.  I own it and the compilert ran on CP/M 80, CP/M86 and MS-DOS.
There were versions of each compiler for each arcitecture and you had
to order it that way.  There was also an 8087 specific version of the
compiler and yopu got both (emulation and 8087) when you ordered the
more expensive 87 version.
The manual states that the complete compiler and all suport files 
took up 27K of disk space.  Not bad, Not bad at all.

We must prevent those commies from compromising the integrity of our 
precious bodily fluids.      -Gen. Jack D. Ripper
Ephram Cohen                              ephram@violet.berkeley.edu
466 44th St.  #1                          3210 Tolman Hall
Oakland, CA 94609                         Berkeley, CA  94720

ephram@violet.berkeley.edu (Ephram Cohen) (02/21/91)

In article <1991Feb20.234821.19546@agate.berkeley.edu> ephram@violet.berkeley.edu (Ephram Cohen) writes:
> There was also an 8087 specific version of the
>compiler and yopu got both (emulation and 8087) when you ordered the
>more expensive 87 version.
Sorry about the mis-info.  The 8087 version came out with version 2


We must prevent those commies from compromising the integrity of our 
precious bodily fluids.      -Gen. Jack D. Ripper
Ephram Cohen                              ephram@violet.berkeley.edu
466 44th St.  #1                          3210 Tolman Hall
Oakland, CA 94609                         Berkeley, CA  94720