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- Wednesday, Sep 9, 1987
-
-
- BORLAND CELEBRATES FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF TURBO PASCAL;
- VERSION 4.0 BREAKS 64K BARRIER, EXTENDS DEVELOPMENT HORIZONS
-
- BETHESDA, Md.--More than 750,000 users of Turbo Pascal can
- now compile programs faster and build larger programs with Turbo
- Pascal 4.0. With version 4.0, Turbo Pascal goes beyond the 64K
- barrier on program size. The new package offers compile speeds
- of 27,000 lines per minute on an 8 MHz AT and separate
- compilation using units. With Turbo Pascal 4.0's speed,
- permissible program size and separate compilation, developers can
- handle a new range of complex applications.
- Borland International President Philippe Kahn will unveil
- Turbo Pascal 4.0 to members of the Capital PC Users Group this
- evening at the group's general meeting in Bethesda, Maryland.
- (Founded in 1982, the Capital PC Users Group has 5,500 members.)
- Turbo Pascal, and its companion developer's library containing
- the full complement of Turbo Pascal Toolboxes, will be available
- beginning in October.
-
- ---MORE---
-
- PAGE 2
-
- "Turbo Pascal 4.0 is a language that programmers can start
- with and stay with for complex applications development," said
- Kahn. Additional features of the new version include better code
- generation, a device-independent graphics system, a command-line
- version of the compiler, interactive error detection and
- location, and the trademark Borland integrated development
- environment with pull-down menus and built-in editor. Turbo
- Pascal 4.0 supports the Jensen and Wirth standard data types.
- With Turbo Pascal's support of .OBJ files, separate
- compilation via units and smart linking, Borland paves the way
- for future OS/2 products. The hallmarks of a modern compiler,
- these features will allow users to make a smooth transition to
- the new operating system.
- Turbo Pascal 4.0 will retain the product's current price of
- $99.95. Borland will continue to support development teams
- currently using Turbo Pascal 3.0 by offering that version at a
- reduced price of $69.95. Version 4.0 will be available through
- distributors and dealers worldwide, while Turbo Pascal 3.0 will
- be available direct from Borland. As part of a special offer,
- registered Turbo Pascal owners can upgrade to version 4.0 for
- $39.95 plus $5 shipping and handling until November 30, 1987. The
- upgrade is available direct from Borland, and will include
- version 4.0 software and the product's new manual.
- As part of the special offer, the entire Developer's Library
- will be available direct form Borland to registered owners of
- Turbo Pascal or the Turbo Pascal Toolboxes. The Turbo Pascal 4.0
- ---MORE---
-
- PAGE 3
-
- Developer's Library includes Turbo Pascal 4.0 versions of the
- Turbo Tutor, and Turbo Pascal Database, Editor, Numerical
- Methods, Graphix and Gameworks Toolboxes. A retail value of over
- $550, the entire library will be available direct from Borland
- for $150 until November 30, 1987. Borland will also extend a
- special price for the Turbo Pascal 4.0 Developer's Library, to be
- available through retail channels at $395.
- Turbo Pascal 4.0 for the IBM family of personal computers
- and IBM compatibles requires 256K for the command-line verison
- of the compiler (384K for the integrated environment version) and
- PC/MS-DOS v. 2.0 or later.
- Borland International, Inc., located in Scotts Valley,
- Calif., was founded in 1983 to develop and market microcomputer
- software products that match power with ease of learning and use.
- Today the company offers a wide range of business applications
- and developer's tools, including Turbo Pascal, Turbo Prolog,
- Turbo Basic and Turbo C.
-
-
-
-
- ---END---
-
-
- Turbo Pascal, Turbo Tutor, Turbo Database Toolbox, Turbo
- Editor Toolbox and Turbo Graphix Toolbox are registered
- trademarks and Turbo Numerical Methods Toolbox and Turbo
- Gameworks Toolbox are trademarks of Borland International, Inc.
-
-
-
- TURBO PASCAL 4.0
-
-
- PRODUCT BACKGROUND
-
-
- The current version of Turbo Pascal is the fourth generation
- of Borland International's flagship language product. With Turbo
- Pascal 1.0, Borland pioneered the high-speed microcomputer
- language compiler; version 4.0 strengthens Turbo Pascal in its
- role as a serious development language.
-
- Always a fast compiler, Turbo Pascal 4.0 has almost doubled
- the speed of its predecessor, compiling at approximately 27,000
- lines per minute on an 8 MHz IBM AT. The current version breaks
- the 64K program size barrier, supporting programs up to the
- memory limit of DOS. With separate compilation, programmers can
- recompile only those units that have been changed since the last
- compile, as well as create libraries of precompiled units.
- Separate compilation using units allows add-on software tools to
- be built and distributed without source code, a signicant feature
- for third-party developers.
-
- Turbo Pascal 4.0 offers much improved code generation with
- constant folding, unused code removal and optimized use of
- registers. A smart linker removes unused code from programs. The
- package comes complete with command-line and
- integrated-environment versions of the compiler.
-
- The package's integrated programming environment features a
- built-in full-screen editor and pull-down menus. This design
- allows users to edit, compile, and find and correct errors from
- inside one integrated development environment. The editor
- supports 25, 43 and 50 lines per screen, as well as CGA, EGA,
- VGA, MCTA, AT&T 400, 3270 and Hercules graphics. Other new
- features include tabs (set tab width), colors, and options for
- "auto save before run" and "suppress .BAK files."
-
- To manage files, a pick list remembers the file name, cursor
- position and search information each time a user exits a file.
- The next time Turbo Pascal is loaded, the program automatically
- restores all of the exited file's context. With the pick list,
- users can pick from the last eight files loaded into the editor.
-
- For larger programs, Turbo Pascal 4.0 includes built-in
- project management (make and build). Debugging is handled with
- interactive error detection and location for automatically
- locating compile- and run-time errors in source code. The
- compiler locates errors, automatically activates the editor and
- shows the location of errors in source code. The compiler can
- generate .MAP files for debugging and works with standard
- debuggers.
-
- Code written for Turbo Pascal 3.0 will compile with only
- minor modifications under version 4.0. An upgrade program
- simplifies the transition to the new compiler with turnkey
- conversion of source code programs.
-
- The compiler itself has been enhanced with extended data
- types that include LongInt, ShortInt, Word and IEEE
- floating-point. Additional language features include support for
- inline statements and macros and a powerful assembly-language
- interface that allows linking in .OBJ files.
-
- Numeric operations benefit from a faster floating-point
- processor. A toggle switch supports any 80x87 math coprocessor
- present for real-number arithmetic. Software floating-point
- operations are now 30 percent faster. Turbo Pascal 4.0 offers
- optional range and stack checking, as well as the ability to
- short-circuit boolean expression evaluation and interrupt
- procedure support for interrupt service routines.
-
- Turbo Pascal now supports units, with automatic execution of
- initialization and exit codes for each nested unit up to eight
- levels deep. Powerful standard units include DOS, GRAPH and CRT
- units. Other features include variable and value typecasting, DOS
- I/O redirection, support for tree-structured directories and
- BlockRead/Write on untyped (binary) files.
-
- Turbo Pascal's new features dramatically enhance the
- package's development environment. Turbo Pascal 4.0's speed and
- separate compilation combine to decrease development time
- dramatically. The world's most popular microcomputer language
- package now truly offers a high-speed, high-performance
- development tool.
-
- Borland International, Inc., located in Scotts Valley,
- Calif., was founded in 1983 to develop and market microcomputer
- software products that match power with ease of learning and use.
- Today the company offers a wide range of business applications
- and developer's tools, including Turbo Pascal, Turbo Prolog,
- Turbo Basic and Turbo C.
-
-
-
- ***
-
-
- Turbo Pascal, Turbo Prolog, Turbo Basic, and Turbo C are
- registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc.
-
-