[Oberon] Procedure variables and local procedures

[Chris Burrows]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oberon [mailto:oberon-bounces at lists.inf.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of
> Skulski, Wojciech
> Sent: Saturday, 30 September 2017 10:49 AM
> To: ETH Oberon and related systems
> Subject: Re: [Oberon] Procedure variables and local procedures
> 
> Perhaps you guys could have a look at monumental work done by Robert?
> This might provide some arguments against cutting off what you
> consider dead wood, which is in fact crucial for some applications.
> 

I would not dream of using a hammer to drive in a fence post any more than I
would choose a sledgehammer to drive in a nail. Similarly, computer
languages are just tools - no one tool is suitable for all jobs. The more
you try to make one toll suitable for a different job the less suitable it
is for use with the job is was designed to do e.g. a short-handled
sledgehammer or a long-handled hammer.

What's the point of making Oberon-07 like Component Pascal when you already
have Component Pascal?

I would not dream of trying to use a 'bloated' language like Component
Pascal to program a single-tasking application for a microcontroller with 16
KB of RAM. I would also not attempt to use a 'crippled' language like
Oberon-07 to write a multi-tasking, event-driven GUI program running on a
system with 16GB of RAM.

However, I do use the 'highly efficient' Oberon-07 to program
microcontrollers with 16 KB of RAM. I also use the 'extremely powerful'
Component Pascal to write GUI programs for a system with 16GB of RAM.

Regards,
Chris Burrows
CFB Software
http://www.astrobe.com