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Introduction

Welcome to Pascal for Not-So-Literate Programmers!

Hi, and welcome to the page everybody's been waiting for: Pascal for Not-So-Literate Programmers! (Okay, so it's not 'everybody', but we're assuming that we're getting the majority of our target audience here...) This learning page for Pascal is dedicated to getting you, the already accomplished (in a sense) programmer, into greater programming heights. From Delphi to the VCL, you'll get it all here at Pascal Programming for Not-So-Literate Programmers!

Who's the target audience anyway?

This page is targeted at those people who know the bare-basics of programming, and are interested to learning more. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, people who:

  • have previous programming experience (in any language),
  • have finished introductory books on Pascal,
  • have experimented with Pascal and learnt how to use its main features,
  • have been through our previous "Pascal Programming for Programming Illiterates",
  • or have an interest on how dumb web pages really can be...
If you satisfy any of the scenarios above, this page is for you. Well, even if you don't, stay on: this page might be of some help. (This is unless you're a complete programming illiterate, where Pascal Programming for Programming Illiterates would serve you better.)

Okay, so how do I use this page?

Well, the system generally works like this:

  1. Select a course in the 'Courses' section
  2. Follow the tutorial
  3. Refer to the 'Glossary' when necessary
But of course, you don't necessarily have to follow that procedure. Who knows? You might find it more convenient to start from the glossary and do the courses later. It's really all up to you. To find out more about each section, read the short introduction at the beginning of each page. (But please finish this general introduction first.)

How about your courses?

Our courses are pretty simple, actually. They use the tried and true tutorial system and are categorised into three difficulty levels. These levels are:

  • Beginner
  • Intermediate
  • Advanced
You might notice that these three levels are colour coded for your easy identification. 'Beginner' is yellow, 'Intermediate' is cyan, and 'Advanced' is magenta. Cute, aren't they?

In every course, there'll be one or more example programs for your compilation pleasure, and each one is presented in a 'Type', 'Output', 'Analyse' system. Each section is separated by three distinctive bars. A typical example program would go:

Type

1:  program ExampleProgram;
2:
3:    begin
4:      Writeln('ExampleProgram');
5:    end.

Output

ExampleProgram

Analyse

  • Line 4
    prints out the line 'ExampleProgram'

Once in a while, you'll also come across a message with a cryptic header. There are four such headers: Tips, Remember, Stop, and URL. These are explained below:

    Tip

    Tips give you useful information or programming tips for your convenience. Be sure to read them, for they just might come in handy!

    Remember

    Sometimes, things which had been mentioned previously might slip your mind. Therefore, we have taken the liberty to remind you of them. (Pretty helpful, aren't we?)

    Stop

    When things which are important go beyond the typical 'Tip' or 'Remember', we resort to 'Stop' - When you see this header, stop everything and read the message. (Whatever it is, don't panic yet. We normally give warnings before we give instructions.)

    URL

    You can't expect us to elaborate everything in this website, especially if these topics are irrelevant or too complex. So, in times like these, we'll provide a link to other sites using the URL header.

Also, we occasionally use Macromedia ShockWave to demonstrate certain concepts. If you do not have the ShockWave plug-in, you can download it from www.macromedia.com. Below is a sample ShockWave movie for you to ensure that your plug-in is installed correctly.

If you don't have a browser that supports plug-ins though, don't worry, for we have provided back-up static graphics to replace them. All that you'll lose out on is a bit of interactivity. Whichever the case, you'll still be able to follow through the course without too many problems.

Where to go from here?

Now that you've finished the introduction, you can happily go on to our Courses section, where you can embark on any one of our tutorial courses. Or, you can head on to our Glossary section, where complex terms are defined. Whatever it is, enjoy!

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