Re: [9fans] pascal, TeX

["Thomas Bushnell, BSG" <tb+usenet@becket.net>]

forsyth@caldo.demon.co.uk writes:

> i suspect that's because the Pascal language took the novel approach
> of providing neither guaranteed garbage collection nor a portable
> operator to free memory without it.

Umm, isn't "free" the portable operator to free memory?

Pascal implementations are free to use GC (and the language was
carefully designed to allow it, by prohibiting hidden aliasing), and I
think there have been some that use it.

Unfortunately, programs can't rely on GC, so they still have to call
free at the right times and do all the annoying and expensive
bookkeeping that GC is designed to make unnecessary.  You end up with
the worst of both worlds: no aliasing, and you still can't rely on GC.

Thomas