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This page, as it stood May 18 is available in human-translated German, thanks to Philip.
This page, as it stood Oct 17 is available in human-translated French, thanks to Avice.
My thanks to all of the kind translators!

I have notes for translators, if you would add a translation. Sadly, I am no longer offering links, due to widespread abuse by blaggards.

Pascal Programming Tutorials

You can work with Pascal without spending a penny. I give details of free Pascal compilers further down the page.

An aside: I became excited about the Arduino microcontroller quite a few years ago. Older and better than the Pi, which resembles the Arduino in some ways. Arduinos use a language similar to C+, but if you can program in Pascal, you can learn to program the Arduino without great effort. You say "goodbye" to Pascal's finger- annoying ":=", but semicolons remain a "little joy" to contend with. I have published some Arduino programming and use tutorials.)

Someday, please read the introduction and guide, further down this page? No need to do that now, if you just want to get going on...



Tutorials Table of Contents


Level 1 Tutorials:

(Versions ("FPK", "TP", "Pascalite") explained in the introduction and guide to the site.)

Start Here FPK version: Setting up. And some general points.
Start Here TP version: Setting up. And some general points.
Start Here Pascalite version: Setting up. And some general points.


Second tutorial FPK/TP version: Going loopy.
Second tutorial Pascalite version: Going loopy.


Third tutorial FPK/TP version: Introducing variables.
Third tutorial Pascalite version: Introducing variables.


Fourth tutorial FPK/TP version: More on variables.
Fourth tutorial Pascalite version: More on variables.


Fifth tutorial FPK/TP version: Counting in binary. ("For" loop)
Fifth tutorial Pascalite version: Let there be light. ("For" loop and LEDs)

Revolution counting: What has that hamster been up to? (One version for all three flavors of Pascal.)

Arrays tutorial FPK/TP version: Super variables
Arrays tutorial Pascalite version: Super variables

User Defined Procedures FPK/TP version: Make your own language! (Part 1)
User Defined Procedures Pascalite version: Make your own language! (Part 1)


Level 2 Tutorials:


At 6/07, the Pascalite thread is the most mature. The FPK/TP thread is a work in progress. Until FPK/TP specific pages become available, readers are invited to study the Pascalite page. Sadly, the Pascalite doesn't seem to be available any more... but what you see in the tutorials is still useful in other environments.
Not a tutorial. The rest! (Miscellaneous features introduced)

User Defined Procedures: Make your own language! (Part 2- parameters)

Generalized Rules of Program Structure: Let's have some backbone! (A hard, but not ESSENTIAL tutorial covering some basics. Will you have the fortitude to add this string to your bow?)

Program Structure Suggested by Pascalite Default: (Not essential, but may help if you want to use default.)

Things You Could Do: Sketches of some ways to use a Pascalite


Level 3 Tutorials:

User Defined Procedures: Make your own language! (Part 3- more on parameters)

Generalized Rules of Program Structure: More backbone!

An Overview of Binary Mostly theory.


Which Pascal compiler should I use?
Details of some good free Pascal compilers

This section was first published many years ago now. Sadly, some of the material here is now only of historical interest.

Free Pascal (aka FPK Pascal)

FPK Pascal: I discovered the delights of FPK Pascal, aka "Free Pascal", (and this was also once known as "FPC Pascal"!) in June 2007. It went on to be the "engine" behind Lazarus, which is thriving, 2015. By November 2011, I was suggesting that FreePascal (FPK) was your best bet for an introduction to Pascal in a easy- to- use environment. I've written a separate page about its virtues, setting it up, and a small test program you can use to see the installation went okay. (It is available from http://www.freepascal.org/, but see what I have to say about Lazarus before investing too much energy in FreePascal. I believe that this Pascal is capable of serious work, although I haven't used it much in console mode. I have done "serious" work in Lazarus, though, which, as I said "runs on" FreePascal.

Lazarus could almost be called a "free Delphi"... i.e. a GUI for producing Windows applications programmed in Pascal... and it does Linux and MacOs, too!

So... should you learn Pascal with FreePascal, or jump straight in with Lazarus.

I once advocated starting with "simple" Pascal, and then moving on to Lazarus. And part of me still likes that approach.

However, in spite of the fact that you have to learn several things at once, just to get started, on balance, today, I recommend taking the plunge- Start with Lazarus.

The reason I say this is that you will not have to re-adjust your way of thinking if you start with Lazarus. Be sure to take to step by step. Crawl before you try to walk. Walk before you try to run. But you can do it!

I have some Lazarus tutorials for you.

I wrote the following before getting started with Lazarus, which is much more attractive to me than Java... but that may be my Delphi background showing. (I now have considerable Lazarus experience, and no inclination to look elsewhere for some time to come.)

If you liked Delphi for producing Windows applications, and now you want to program for Linux, or MacOs, and you are not afraid of learning something new and different, i.e. Java, then perhaps you might want to consider NetBeans. It is considerably more "mainstream" than any Pascal based program development tool I am aware of for Linux. I don't think the change to Java will be a big deal for anyone who could work in Delphi. I've done just a little playing with Netbeans, but am happy so far. I used it under Ubuntu.

(This note added December 2008, updated 6/15) Well... I'm using Linux quite a bit now... Ubuntu. (That did not continue... I went back to Windows. Sigh.) In 2008, I found a copy of Kylix on eBay. Couldn't get it to install, though. Sigh. I fear Kylix may be dead. A great pity. But happily, since 2008, Lazarus has come along, grown a sensible support community and host of features. All I need for the moment for my ambitions to move some of my software to Linux and MacOs versions.

I will be working through the tutorials on this site, doing FPK versions of them for you because I like this open source product so much.

Some time ago, when I was playing with Linux, I used part of the FPK system on an Ubuntu (vers 7.04) Linux box. I was very new to Linux, and only managed to get the command line version of the compiler working before losing interest... but that worked fine, for quick "Hello World" tests. (Still does work, for that an more, I assume.)

Borland Turbo Pascal: Traditionally, we used Borland's Turbo Pascal as the industrial strength, de facto "standard" Pascal. You could once obtain a free copy of the powerful version 5.5, but it is from the "pre-Windows" days, and is less "Windows friendly"... although it, and the applications it produces, will run, in MS-DOS windows. I have prepared a separate page about installing Borland's Pascal, (with a first project, to test the installation). That is written primarily for XP users, but it will work... probably better... on earlier Windows, too.

Pascalite: Pascalite compiler: While less widely supported than the other two, and less "powerful", this one had some special strengths.

Sadly, Pascalite seems to have "died". But the Arduino, although not Pascal based, has come along and flourished, filling the gap in the market.

Pascalites (and Arduinos) make very little demand on your system. The Pascalite had an impressive simulator for the hardware "Pascalite" that was once available. It was a microcontroller which ran Pascalite code, and Pascalite is equipped with special commands to access the microcontroller's inputs and outputs, which include ADCs and counters. (It was a bit like the wonderful Arduino which we have today.) While I'm not sure the hardware is available, or will ever be again, Pascalite is still worth consideration as a learning tool. The software... including the simulation of the hardware... was still available, still ran fine on my main machine of the time (an XP box), in November 2011. Sadly, 6/15, the old site... http://home.planet.nl/~basti976/pascalite/index.htm".... now reports "not available".

If you come across a resurrection of the Pascalite, I would be delighted to hear from you where it may be found.


The globe to the right helps me see if doing these pages is worth the time it takes. It is interactive; play with it, if you wish. (You need to use your browser's "back" button to get back here after doing so.) The only information the system records is when visitors access the site, and where their ISP connected them to the internet. (In my case, that is 60 miles from where I live, at the moment.)

This comes to me as a free service from Revolvermaps.com. If you know how to insert HTML into your own web pages, it is easily added.





Introduction and Guide to these Pascal tutorials

This site offers you a sequence of lessons which should help you master Pascal programming. You don't need to pay for a compiler: the tutorials can be followed with any of the free Pascal compilers. All run on Windows, from Win98 to XP, and more modern versions of Windows, too, I believe. FPK can also be used on Linux boxes ('Ray!) and Macs. Thus, the material should be of general use. Feel free to use the tutorials in programming courses, but a credit of the source would be appreciated.

You can follow two threads through the tutorials. One is for users of Free Pascal, aka FPK. That thread will also help users of Borland's Turbo Pascal. The other thread is written with users of the Pascalite in mind.

If you follow the Pascalite thread through these tutorials, you do not have to have the Pascalite hardware to do most things in these programming tutorials. If you do have the hardware, especially if you have just obtained it, please have a look at my Using the Pascalite Hardware It has details of how to access various features of the splendid Pascalite.

Pascalite is two things: A Pascal software programming package which you can download for free, and an inexpensive microcontroller, which is remarkably capable. The software includes not only the compiler, but also a splendid integrated working environment including editor, debugging tools and simulation of the Pascalite hardware. The download was only 482kb in late 2002, but don't be fooled into thinking that it can't be very capable in so "few" bytes. It simply wasn't written at Microsoft. (In November 2011, the download was about the same size, but the file date had been advanced to 2006. I tested it on my main machine of that time, an XP box, and it worked fine.)

The original home of Pascalite was http://www.controlplus.nl/ Today, you go to http://home.planet.nl/~basti976/pascalite/index.htm for the software and, and to watch in case the hardware becomes available again. That site is mainly in Dutch, but if you click the "English, please" button, then most of the pages... not all... are presented in English. By the way, the site hosting the page you are reading, and the tutorials, were created without payment from or affiliation with Control Plus. I just thought the product deserved publicity, and liked the fact that I could teach Pascal without costing my pupils any money. I have also done an overview of the Pascalite for you.

Whichever thread you follow, be it the FPK/TP or the Pascalite thread, the exercises should work exactly as presented if you are using the intended environment. In addition, both (mostly) obey the rules of any good Pascal and they will give you a good start on other good dialects of Pascal.

Delphi, the Pascal based Windows application creator, is a much under-rated programming tool. (At 6/15, Delphi is no longer available to hobbyists... but Lazarus is, and is as good.) Lazarus derives from Delphi and has thrived and prospered. Delphi is not as easy to obtain, for hobbyist use, as it once was. My advice? Put your energies into Lazarus. But if you can get your hands on a version of Delphi which doesn't leave you hostage to whatever company is selling it this week, go for it! Not just with Delphi, with all non- open source programs: Beware the "promotional" or "introductory" or "SE" ("special edition") versions. Often they are merely ploys to get you hooked, when then "reel you in". Do you know the wonderful Uncle Remus stories? Br'er Rabbit and the Tar Baby comes to mind. See my Delphi Tutorials site for more information on these matters.







Other Tutorials by me, not integrated with the above:

Introduction to Dallas 1-Wire... Overview and links to tutorials with source code for accessing 1-Wire (aka MicroLan) devices, as used in iButtons. Dallas is now part of Maxim. ("1-Wire" is a registered trademark. The Pascalite hardware can access at least some 1-Wire devices, at least a little. I would guess that more functionality will be forthcoming in due course.)
Pascal for those who know Basic... but who haven't done much Pascal.
Making it work... Help with debugging.. and on preventing the need for it. Also useful to programmers using other languages.


       Editorial Philosophy

I dislike 'fancy' websites where there's more medium than message.... especially if that means I have to wait while multiple little items get downloaded. For a pretty picture, I can go to an art gallery. (Of course an attractive site with content deserves praise... as long as that pretty face doesn't cost download time.) In any case....

I am trying to present this material in a format which makes it easy for you to USE it. There are two aspects to that: The way it is split up and the way it is posted.

The way it is split up...

I have tried to split it up into 'bite-sized' pieces and to indicate which pieces are basic and of general importance, and which address more specific issues which may also be more complex, or require prior understanding of other issues. In other words, I try to show you how to walk before running. The 'Level 1' tutorials cover the basics. If you have no experience, start with the level one tutorials. If you decide to jump in at a more advanced level, and things are not clear, it might be an idea to skim the level one topics if only to learn about my way of expressing the concepts.

The way it is posted...

You should be able to read the tutorials on-line without difficulty. However, you should ALSO find it easy to capture them for off-line use, including editing for your own purposes. The following should work. I would suggest that you create a folder for the tutorials so that you can retain my filenames with no risk of clashes:

On-line, use your browser to view the tutorial you want to capture.

Use your browser's File| Save As... to save the web-page to your disc. At this point you can log off or visit other pages, perhaps saving them, too.

When you have logged off, use your browser's File| Open file to access what you saved.



Filenames...

I've tried to be organized: Names start "plt" or "pt" for Pascalite / Pascal Tutorial. Next is a digit, for the level, then I've used letters one after the other, e.g. ptl2a, ptl2b, ptl3a. The letter doesn't mean much... it merely shows when I got around to that particular topic! And, appended to all of the above, you will sometimes find a "p" or an "f". These indicate that the file is a "Pascalite" or "FPK/TP" version of the tutorial, respectively, when present.





The connection between Pascal and Delphi and Lazarus and Kylix:

Delphi is based on Pascal. It is for writing programs for Windows, using Pascal with a lot of enhancements from those wonderful people at Borland. I've worked hard for years developing a collection of Delphi tutorials.

Delphi inspired the open source Lazarus. Delphi also gave rise to Kylix, which was "Delphi for Linux", but which, as I discussed elsewhere, I fear is dead. Happily, Lazarus is a "write once, deploy twice" language: The same code will create a Windows app or a Linux app, depending on how it is compiled.

If you are very new to programming, you might make progress faster if you start with a non-Windows Pascal... such as any of the compilers the tutorials on this page help you with.




In addition to the tutorials for which this page serves as Table of Contents, I have other sites with material you might find useful.....

   Delphi Programming Tutorials/p>

   Using a Windows / DOS PC's parallel port with programs written in Delphi and other languages./p>

   The Arduino Microcontroller.... very affordable, lots of fun!/p>

   Some pages for programmers.



And now for some links to some pages which you may find useful, written by other people.

They will be opened in new windows, so use your tabs (Opera, Firefox), or just close their windows (IE) to get back here.

(Please do not ask me to list your page here unless your page already has a link to my page, and your page has been up for at least two years. (And I can confirm that with the WayBack Machine.))


Before you have looked very far on the internet for help with Pascal, you should encounter Timo Salmi. Almost everything that anyone ever wanted to know is already on the web in Professor Salmi's superb FAQs.... if you can find them!!! These wonderful resources are worth seeking out. 1/2009, they were available http://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts.html but not 3/18. If you know where they've gone, please tell me. (It used to be a case of fetching tsfaqp50.zip, unzip it, look in TSFAQP.IDX for the FAQ's table of contents.)

(Those FAQs seem to move around! There were at ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/link/tsfaqp.zip, and then at ftp://garbo.uwasa.fi/pc/ts/tsfaqp36.zip. Hiding again? Try searching with Google for "timo salmi pascal faqs". I'm thankful they weren't written by Joe Smith!

Old news....

The following were once all good. I haven't used them for years, not sure what the current situation is. Google's search engine has spoiled us! But here they still are, if only for "old time's sake"....

The Wikipedia entry for Turbo Pascal might interest you. It explains why Turbo Pascal (which came from the old Borland) was an important step in the progress of computing from where we were to where we are.

Marco Cantu's Essential Pascal Tutorial... read online, or download text.

Delphi Super Page.... an archive of material, some with sourcecode.

Swiss Delphi Center In English, German, and French. Programming tips, Downloads, Links, Etc.

Delphi Land- Delphi tutorial, tips, source code. English or Dutch (Nederlands)

Programmer's Heaven Not just for Pascal, but for a vast array of resources for programmers of many languages and platforms. Code snippets, tutorials, guides to what tools are available, etc, etc!

Borland: No longer seems to have anything relevant to us. If you use the Google search engine, enter "Borland Turbo Pascal", numerous promising links are proposed. "Embarcadero" was one stage in the complex corporate history that started with a Borland very different from today's "Borland"... they may be the "official" repository of this "blast from the past".

http://home.wanadoo.nl/thxz.jansen/programming/frankdelphi.html.. no longer at this address. If you find them, please let me know? Frank's Delphi Lessons.


Alternatively, use forums or newsgroups...

Google's Groups to obtain answers to your questions! (New to newsgroups? See my introduction.)



To search THIS site.... (Go to my other sites, below, and use their search buttons if you want to search them.)

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My site at Arunet.

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Ad from page's editor: Yes.. I do enjoy compiling these things for you... hope they are helpful. However.. this doesn't pay my bills!!! If you find this stuff useful, (and you run an MS-DOS or Windows PC) please visit my freeware and shareware page, download something, and circulate it for me? Links on your page to this page would also be appreciated!
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