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- This file was generated automatically from welcome.texi.
- DO NOT CHANGE THIS FILE MANUALLY!
-
- Welcome to GNU Pascal,
-
- the free 32/64-bit Pascal compiler of the GNU Compiler Collection (GNU
- CC or GCC). It combines a Pascal front-end with the proven GCC back-end
- for code generation and optimization. Other compilers in the
- collection currently include compilers for the Ada, C, C++, Objective
- C, Chill, FORTRAN, and Java languages. Unlike utilities such as p2c,
- this is a true compiler, not just a converter.
-
- This version of GPC corresponds to GCC version 2.95.x.
-
- The purpose of the GNU Pascal project is to produce a Pascal compiler
- (called GNU Pascal or GPC) which
-
- * combines the clarity of Pascal with powerful tools suitable for
- real-life programming,
-
- * supports both the Pascal standard and the Extended Pascal standard
- as defined by ISO, ANSI and IEEE (ISO 7185:1990, ISO/IEC
- 10206:1991, ANSI/IEEE 770X3.160-1989),
-
- * supports other Pascal standards (UCSD Pascal, Borland Pascal,
- Pascal-SC) in so far as this serves the goal of clarity and
- usability,
-
- * may be distributed under GNU license conditions, and
-
- * can generate code for and run on any computer for which the GNU C
- compiler can generate code and run on.
-
- Pascal was originally designed for teaching. GNU Pascal provides a
- smooth way to proceed to challenging programming tasks without learning
- a completely different language.
-
- The current release implements Standard Pascal (ISO 7185, level 1), a
- large subset of Extended Pascal (ISO 10206, aiming for full
- compliance), is highly compatible to Borland Pascal (version 7.0) with
- some Delphi extensions, and provides a lot of useful GNU extensions.
-
- GNU Pascal has a home site in the World Wide Web,
-
- `http://home.pages.de/~GNU-Pascal/'
-
- GNU Pascal distributions can always be found at
-
- `ftp://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/gnu-pascal/'
-
- We prefer distributing GNU Pascal in source form because it gives you
- the possibility to customize, improve, and maintain the compiler by
- yourself (or to hire a programmer to do so for you). However, we
- provide binary distributions for some platforms for your convenience,
- in a subdirectory `binary'.
-
- Compilation of GNU Pascal requires the GCC sources, not just an
- installed copy of GCC.
-
- Installing GPC (from sources or a binary) will create various files in
- subdirectories of `/usr/local/lib', which are used by the compiler. It
- will also create `/usr/local/bin/gpc', which is the user-level command
- to do a compilation.
-
- Please send comments, suggestions, and bug reports to the GNU Pascal
- mailing list, <gpc@gnu.de>. See the FAQ for details.
-
- The GNU Pascal Manual which contains extensive documentation about GPC
- is contained in the files gpc.info* (GNU Info format) in source and
- binary distributions. You can read them with any info reader, e.g. by
- typing `info -f gpc'. The source of the manual is provided in Texinfo
- format in GPC source distributions. From this, you can recreate the
- Info version, and you can also create HTML and PostScript versions.
- HTML and PostScript versions are also provided on GPC's web pages.
-
- The file `FAQ' contains the GNU Pascal FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
- list. It should answer most of the questions you might have about GNU
- Pascal.
-
- The file `NEWS' lists changes to GNU Pascal since the last release.
-
- The file `AUTHORS' lists the authors and contributors to GNU Pascal.
-
- The file `COPYING' contains the GNU General Public License under which
- GNU Pascal is distributed.
-
- The files mentioned in the following are part of the source code
- distributions of GNU Pascal.
-
- The file `INSTALL' contains installation instructions.
-
- The file `ChangeLog' contains an edit history.
-
- The directory `rts' contains the source code of GNU Pascal's Run Time
- System. Its interface to Pascal programs is contained in the file
- `gpc.pas'.
-
- The directory `script' contains some scripts used by the GPC
- maintainers and some scripts used during GPC's build process.
-
- In the directory `doc' you can find the GNU Pascal documentation in GNU
- Texinfo format. See `doc/README' for more about that.
-
- The directory `units' contains the GNU Pascal standard units, some of
- which being portable replacements for Borland Pascal standard units of
- the same name.
-
- The directory `demos' contains demo programs illustrating some of GNU
- Pascal's capabilities.
-
- The directory `test' contains programs to test the compiler during its
- development and installation.
-
- Everything else belongs to GNU Pascal's source code.
-
- All parts of the compiler are copyrighted (C) 1987, 1989, 1992-2000 by
- the Free Software Foundation, Inc. (FSF).
-
- GNU Pascal is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
- under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
- Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any
- later version.
-
- GNU Pascal is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
- WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
- MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
- General Public License for more details.
-
- You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
- with GNU Pascal; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free
- Software Foundation, 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
- 02111-1307, USA.
-
- Enjoy,
-
- The GNU Pascal Development Team
-
-