Path: csiph.com!news.swapon.de!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: "Carlos E.R." Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: Fwd: [Lazarus] Live pascal Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2026 21:15:03 +0100 Lines: 153 Message-ID: <77m67mxeui.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> References: <7nOdnVvFG5xeSgP0nZ2dnZfqnPGdnZ2d@giganews.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: individual.net MjPpM6KXEeQuzzDSlvYbMAw1kHDkglBC8r5/mNCziUDu9cfkgo X-Orig-Path: Telcontar.valinor!not-for-mail Cancel-Lock: sha1:ExzwERSltc2ywojuNfp/846x2Fk= sha256:52znvxEZiEqL8sLgIq5rI+xfV+wMZsXUTxLKoAz5OXE= User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Content-Language: es-ES, en-CA In-Reply-To: X-Leafnode-NNTP-Posting-Host: 127.0.0.1 Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:82292 On 2026-02-26 03:00, c186282 wrote: > On 2/25/26 07:15, Carlos E.R. wrote: >> On 2026-02-25 12:06, c186282 wrote: >>> On 2/25/26 05:22, Carlos E.R. wrote: >>>> On 2026-02-25 03:33, c186282 wrote: >>>>> On 2/24/26 13:23, Carlos E.R. wrote: >>>>>> Recently there was talk here about Pascal, so I thought I would >>>>>> forward this here. >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> -------- Forwarded Message -------- >>>>>> Subject: [Lazarus] Live pascal >>>>>> Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:50:31 +0100 (CET) >>>>>> From: Michael Van Canneyt via lazarus >>>>>> Reply-To: Lazarus mailing list >>>>>> To: Lazarus mailing list , FPC >>>>>> mailing list >>>>>> CC: Michael Van Canneyt <...@freepascal.org> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> Hello, >>>>>> >>>>>> Pascal was designed for teaching. I'm sure everyone knows this. >>>>>> >>>>>> The chairman of the Free Pascal & Lazarus foundation (and me) take >>>>>> this to >>>>>> heart: we would very much like to reintroduce pascal in schools. >>>>>> While it is not certain that we will achieve success, we still try to >>>>>> improve the teaching experience for pascal. >>>>>> >>>>>> Some languages allow you to test the language on a website. No >>>>>> need to install anything. >>>>>> >>>>>> We can make the same possible for Pascal. >>>>>> >>>>>> To this end, I've been working on a project for some time now: >>>>>> >>>>>> https://live.freepascal.org/ >>>>>> >>>>>> A live editor for pascal, allowing you to run pascal in the browser. >>>>>> It uses pas2js for 'compiling' and lazarus' JCF (compiled to wasm) >>>>>> for formatting the code. You can also pick files from your local >>>>>> computer. >>>>>> >>>>>> It features a JIT compiler: if you don't do anything for 3 seconds >>>>>> or more, >>>>>> it will compile in the background and annotate the code in the >>>>>> gutter with >>>>>> errors/warnings etc. >>>>>> >>>>>> You can embed the editor in an existing page and control it from >>>>>> the enveloping page: >>>>>> >>>>>> https://live.freepascal.org/test-embed.html >>>>>> >>>>>> The idea is to enable a self-paced tutorial: >>>>>> >>>>>> https://live.freepascal.org/tutorial-sample.html >>>>>> >>>>>> But also to have specific assignments: >>>>>> >>>>>> http://live.freepascal.org/?assignment=assignments/hello-world.json >>>>>> >>>>>> The latter would be useful for a teacher. >>>>>> >>>>>> The page tries to verify the results, and gives hints (all pre- >>>>>> configurable). >>>>>> >>>>>> I know that some people are trying to put together a tutorial. >>>>>> It is my hope that they will consider integrating this in their >>>>>> tutorial. >>>>>> >>>>>> On the server, it is just a set of static files, so no heavy load. >>>>>> Unzip, and you are ready to go. >>>>>> >>>>>> I will be committing the code for this in a repo once I've cleaned >>>>>> up a bit. >>>>>> >>>>>> Some embryonal ideas for improvements: - Step-by-step tutorial >>>>>> mode with manifest - Tutorial progress persistence - Submit >>>>>> results to teacher endpoint (will need server support) >>>>>> - Multi-file tabbed editor - Read-only code regions for scaffolded >>>>>> exercises - Inline hover annotations / code docs  (AKA: code >>>>>> insight, the pascal LSP compiled to wasm should enable this) >>>>>> - Welcome overlay - Contextual "what next?" guidance - Quick- >>>>>> insert code snippets - Unit catalog grouped by domain - Resizable >>>>>> split panes (draggable divider) - Separate console panel from DOM >>>>>> output - Resizable output iframe + presets - Use FPC itself to >>>>>> output wasm. >>>>>> >>>>>> Other suggestions for improvements are welcome. Contributions as >>>>>> well, obviously. >>>>>> >>>>>> The page is an initial version, so be kind in your judgment :-) >>>>>> >>>>>> Michael. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>    Pascal was invented for 'educational purposes' - both >>>>>    for learners and as an example of how compilers can >>>>>    be done. >>>> >>>> Yes, yes, but the point is that they have created a web page where >>>> you can try to create a program and is compiled and run right there, >>>> without having to install anything, to make the introduction far >>>> easier to students and novices. >>> >>>    Ummm ... there were no web pages when Pascal >>>    was created. >>> >> >> So? We are talking of an initiative of the freepascal people. Today. >> >> Focus, please. > >   Post was after midnight  :-) > >   And you mentioned Wirth's "educational" crusade, so >   mentioning that time period is fair game. > >   Anyway, I'm not pissing on the FreePascal people >   at all - indeed happy to see any initiative that >   is using Pascal instead of Rust  :-) > I didn't know there were efforts to make teaching of Pascal easier, teach to new people, as a first (programming) language. I don't know if the initiative will have some success, but it is at least curious. >   Note also : >   https://onecompiler.com/pascal  (not free) > >   One of the odder places I found Pascal was in a big >   kit for developing on microcontrollers - 'MikroPascal'. >   They offered a 'C' compiler too. Speed/code-size was >   about the same for either. The company now goes by >   'Mikroe' but the orig, maybe true, parentage is Serbian. > >   They still sell the big fancy all-in-one dev boards, >   but you've gotta dig just a bit : >   https://www.mikroe.com/development-boards-v8 >   Fits many chips and accessories, ldc screen >   onboard, loads of jumpers and potentiometers >   and pulse generators and such. PRICE has gone >   WAY up alas. Mikro-C and MikroPascal are still >   offered, but you'd need to buy a PIC version >   and AVR version if you wanted to do both. > -- Cheers, Carlos. ES🇪🇸, EU🇪🇺;