[ Slightly Off Topic ] Background & Why I love Lazarus & Pascal

[Peter Williams <pewslinuxvault gmail com>]

G'day All,

Hello to the Nice and Talented Lazarus Folk :-)))

My fondest memories of my times at the Uni of Canberra (see below) was
learning about this new programming language called Pascal. It was a
bit like BASIC but much more strongly typed. As opposed to Commodore
PET 4032 BASIC 4.0 which had no typing to speak of. Sure there was
different data types etc, but the typing was not really designed into
the language. The result mostly was spaghetti code... mostly, but not
always!!! :-)

It was instant love - I fell in LOVE WITH THE PASCAL LANGUAGE ... and
I've been using it ever since. That's partly why I am devoted to
Lazarus!!! ;-))) Warts and all -- I love it !!! And free too!
FANTASTIC ... I'm a big Lazarus fan... if not a big developer.

My background is that I used to work for the Australian Royal
Australia Navy (RAN) in Canberra for 23 years. I was a Draftsman --
which mean that I prepared a wide variety of technical drawing with
the old pen & ink on drawing film using a drafting board.

Also, I prepared drawings with a wide range of CAD (Computer Aided
Design) Software. ;-)) I was okay at 2D drafting -- but I could never
get my head around the concept of preparing 3D CAD drawings. ;-O(  It
was just TOO HARD - and the software we used was called CATIA (??).
It's what Boeing Aeronatics using to design all using their
aeroplanes! The RAN also used it to design some of it's ships, boats,
and submarines. e.g. The ANZAC Class of Frigates, the new patrol boats
etc, and the Collins Class Submarines (I think).

At least it was one of the tools we at Defence used. We used it for
Naval Architecture (no so much me), Weapons Systems, Communication
Systems, Navigation Systems, Satellite and Computer Systems. The
integration of all these systems, as well as the refitting and
re/design of ship and Naval vessels etc.

I did some training with CATIA CAD software... but as I was saying the
concept of it use were too complex for my tiny brain to cope with.
*SMILE*

Anyway, I used AutoCAD for M$ Windows to some extent. I also got help
with the other drafties who used the same CAD software to advice on
using the commands, etc. My favourite 2D CAD package was for the
Apollo Domain computer and it was called Palette. I was easy to using
for 2D drawing, once you understood concepts like: using a combination
of command prompt (within Palette), using the mouse and menus for
accessing the drawing commands, and basics like using construction
lines (lines that help you draw, but don't necessarily print out) and
grids etc. Palette (the version I used about 15 or 20 years ago!) was
great for 2D drawings. But it's 3D features were only partially
implemented and the 3D commands were broken to some extent. ;-( Maybe
it's been fix in some later version.

In the section I worked we only needed mostly 2D drafting
capabilities, and it was different areas within the RAN (I can't speak
for the Army & Air Force) sometimes needed to use power CAD software
like CATIA.

Back to myself. I worked for the RAN as a civilian in the Australian
Public Service Defence department. I started off working as a Trainee
Draftsman just before I turned 20. I trained in drawing techniques and
studied Electronic and Theory at the local TAFE college part-time. It
took me 5 years of studying part-time (mostly) -- but I did obtain my
official qualification. A Certificate in Electrical Engineering and I
specialized in Digital Logic and Digital Design (basic level).

My studies focused on topic like: Ohms Law, Circuit design and analyse
theory and formulas. A lot of understanding some of the circuits I
studied was at the level of components like: transistors, resistors,
capacitors, batteries, logic gates, and, or, nor, invertors,
JK-Flip-Flops, Counters (Up/Down etc), UARTs, DEMUXs, diodes etc

I still have text books on how to design things like Counters, Logic
Gates and how And, Or and different logic chips work. As you can
imagine this gets quite theoretical. ;-))) It involves thing like:
truth tables, algebra and maths. Digital logic maths and algebraic
notations systems. Coding in different languages, including: BASIC, C,
Assembler etc. I can still remember using a DEC PDP-11 with Unix of
some description (I think ?). We mainly used DEC BASIC and I can
remember writing a basic program to control the inputs for a tablet
and light pen connected to it. This was in the mid-1980's - I think.
;-)))

I can remember that some of my studies were challenging & I usually
got a 'pass' level for the different units. The exception was the
'Intro to BASIC Programming' unit -- in which I got a 'credit'.
*SMILE* This is because I had been programming BASIC since about 1977
approx. That was when the family bought our first computer. It was a
Commodore PET 4016 ( C= ) with 16 KiloBytes of RAM (expanded to 32 K
RAM). It's monitor and keyboard and cpu and all of the total system
were one integrated unit. Peripherals like: 4040 dual 160 K floppy
disk drives, printer and modem ... were all external to it. It used a
IEEE-488 interface as were as different ports for other devices. ;-)))

This was quite advanced for it's day!

The PET also had it's OS in firmware ROMs. It's OS was called
Commodore BASIC 4.0 (for the 4016/32). It was developed by Commodore
and Micro$oft !!! (yes, Commodore BASIC was part M$).

I cut my teeth on C= systems. I taught myself to program by analysing
programs, computer books and user magazines esp ones with program
listings you could enter into the computer then save and debug. Also,
we had a modem and used terminal software to access BBS (Bulletin
Board Systems). Back the 32 baud would have been considered fast --
and I can still remember the introduction of 64 baud modem. Then later
higher speeds. We didn't have a lot of money then, so we had a large
collect of 160 KB floppy disks! Flippies they called them 'cos you
could use both sides. None of this 360KB floppies. Also C= and for
that matter all of the different computer brands, each had different
formats for the floppies. ;-))

Anyway, So that's how I first learnt about computer. In my teenage
years (while still at school) with different models, mainly C= : PET,
C64, C128, Amiga, 286, 386SX, XT clone, 586, etc ... those are just
some of the ones that I've owned and used (or my family).

Later, around 1990-1992, I attended the then Canberra College of
Advanced Education (the CCAE) which became the University of Canberra
during my time studying their. I was a full-time, mature-age student
studying towards a BA in Computing Studies. I completed my first 2
years of full-time study. It was a 3 year degree -- which I never did
complete due to having a nervous breakdown.

I have Schizophrenia (amongst other things) and I had previously had
breakdowns and gone on strong prescription medications. I went also
totally off all medications to study (believing that I'd recovered).

I enjoyed my studies at the CCAE / U of C. Mostly, as beginning
Computing IT students we learnt : programming languages and
techniques. C, BASIC, HTML, Pascal, Assembler, Digital Logic and
Notation System, Cobol, SQL, dBase 3/4+, Database theory, design and
practise, Operating System theory and design, Communications, Modems,
Networking, Data Analysis, Nassi-Sneiderman Charts, Flow Charts, etc.

I can still remember drawing NS Charts for every the main procedure of
my Pascal assignments. There was a strong emphasise on lectures,
assignments, tutorial and practical use of the things.

Most of the students worked together in groups or 3, 4 or more. I
worked on my own. *SMILE* I was a loner, mostly -- probably a
contributing factor to why I didn't finish my BA Degree.

Love pew  ;-)))
XOX

Fond Regards and Best Wishes,
    PEW { Peter Eric Williams }
from Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

My free website:
http://pewink.org  (&)
http://pewslinuxvault.googlepages.com