The Pascal language was named for Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician who was a pioneer in computer development history. In 1641, at the age of eighteen, Pascal constructed the first arithmetical machine, arguably the first computer. He would improve upon the instrument eight years later. In 1650, Pascal left the world of geometry and physics, and shifted his focus towards religious studies, or, as Pascal wrote, to "contemplate the greatness and the misery of man." Pascal died in Paris on August 19, 1662.
The earliest computers were programmed in machine code and assembly. This type of programming is tedious and error prone, as well as extremely difficult to understand and modify. Programming is a time-consuming and expensive process. High level languages were developed to resolve this problem. High level languages provide a set of instructions that read like English, but can be translated by a program called a compiler into machine code. Pascal is one such language.
Other high level languages developed in the early years of the computer were FORTRAN (1957), COBOL (1959), ALGOL (1960), APL (1962), BASIC (1964), C (1972) and Ada (1983), to name a few. One problem with many of the early languages (e.g., FORTRAN and BASIC) was the heavy dependency on the use of "goto" instructions. "Goto" instructions tell the computer to jump from one step to another, enabling the computer to skip steps or to go back to repeat earlier steps. This type of sporadic branching increases the difficulty of debugging code. Additionally, languages like COBOL were designed with over-elaborate definitions, weak data structures support, and a lack of flexibility, making programs tedious to code and difficult to enhance.
The earliest computers were programmed in machine code and assembly. This type of programming is tedious and error prone, as well as extremely difficult to understand and modify. Programming is a time-consuming and expensive process. High level languages were developed to resolve this problem. High level languages provide a set of instructions that read like English, but can be translated by a program called a compiler into machine code. Pascal is one such language.
Other high level languages developed in the early years of the computer were FORTRAN (1957), COBOL (1959), ALGOL (1960), APL (1962), BASIC (1964), C (1972) and Ada (1983), to name a few. One problem with many of the early languages (e.g., FORTRAN and BASIC) was the heavy dependency on the use of "goto" instructions. "Goto" instructions tell the computer to jump from one step to another, enabling the computer to skip steps or to go back to repeat earlier steps. This type of sporadic branching increases the difficulty of debugging code. Additionally, languages like COBOL were designed with over-elaborate definitions, weak data structures support, and a lack of flexibility, making programs tedious to code and difficult to enhance.
