"David H. Burns" <dhb### [at] cherokeetelnet> wrote:
> I have programmed a lot, albeit all small stuff. More complex programs
> are of course more difficult
> and OOP may be justified if it makes that more easily. Programming
> should not be restricted
> to "professional programmers" anymore than writing a paragraph should be
> restricted to
> professional writers!

And guess what - it isn't.

Grab any language you like, get a compiler (or interpreter) and go ahead.

"But," you'll say, "all out there these days has been invaded by OOP and is of
no use for me!"

Here's good news for you: You're wrong.

Fact is that yes, today's mainstream languages virtually *all* come with OOP
support, so they can be applied to large and complex projects.

Fact is also, however, that older languages have not ceased to exist, and there
are even modern compilers and interpreters being developed for them. Some have
introduced dialects with OOP support, but without breaking compatibility.

You love Pascal, but Borland has discontinued its Turbo-Pascal IDE/compiler
series some decade ago, and the old versions can only produce obsolete 16-bit
code? Then maybe you want to have a look at Free Pascal, which even comes with
a clone of the good old Turbo-Pascal IDE. Or just have a look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_(programming_language) to see what else is
currently cooking with that language.

Your favorite language is some other? Just have a look at Wikipedia whether
there's modern compilers or IDEs out there.


Just don't expect professional SW developers from stalling the technological
advancement of *their* weapons of choice just because you don't grok them. That
would be like trying to stop the advent of fountain pens because you as a
hobbyist writer would prefer to stick with the good old dip pen.

Guess what: You can still get dip pens *today* if you really want one. Despite
other "hypes" like ballpoint pens, mechanical typewriters, electrical
typewriters, and nowadays personal computers, first with typewheel printers or
needle dot matrix printers, later with inkjet or laser printers... but well,
who needs them? They have killed the art of writing with dip pens, haven't
they?

The only things from this list that seem to actually have died out are
mechanical typewriters (where electric ones won't do, too often weight or
maintenance is likely to be an issue as well, making pens or pencils the weapon
of choice) and typewheel printers (having been out-evolved by inkjet and laser
printers in terms of quality, and unable to compete with impact dot matrix
printers for carbon copy applications).

Post a reply to this message