                  Welcome to GNU Pascal,

            the free 32/64-bit Pascal compiler.


This directory contains the beta release gpc-19990118 of the GNU
Pascal compiler (GPC) on its way from version 2.0 to 2.1.

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.

The GNU Pascal run time system is a free library; you can
redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Library
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
and of the GNU Library General Public License along with GNU Pascal;
see the files `COPYING' and `COPYING.LIB'.  If not, write to the
Free Software Foundation, 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA
02111-1307, USA.


GNU Pascal is part of the GNU compiler family, GNU CC or GCC. It
combines a Pascal front-end with the proven GNU C back-end for code
generation and optimization.  Unlike utilities such as p2c, this is
a true compiler, not just a converter.

This version of GPC corresponds to GCC version 2.8.1 or 2.95.x.

The purpose of the GNU Pascal project is to produce a Pascal
compiler which:

1) combines the clarity of Pascal with powerful tools suitable
   for real-life programming,

2) 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)

3) supports other Pascal standards (UCSD Pascal, Borland Pascal,
   Pascal-SC) in so far as this serves the goal of clarity and
   usability,

4) may be distributed under GNU license conditions,

5) 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.


This is the source code distribution of GNU Pascal.  We prefer this
form of distributing GNU Pascal because it gives you the possibility
to customize, improve, and maintain the compiler by yourself (or to
hire a programmer to do it for you).  However we provide binary
distributions for some platforms; check the place where you
downloaded the source for a subdirectory `binary'.

See the file `INSTALL' for installation instructions.

Compilation of GNU Pascal requires the GNU CC sources, not just an
installed copy of GCC.

Installing this package will create various files in subdirectories
of `/usr/local/lib', which are passes used by the compiler and
libraries named `libgcc.a' and `libgpc.a'.  It will also create
`/usr/local/bin/gpc', which is the user-level command to do a
compilation.


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.

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 `rts' contains the source code of GNU Pascal's run
time system. It's interface to Pascal programs is contained in the
file `gpc.pas'.

The directory `demos' contains demo programs illustrating some of
GNU Pascal's capabilities.

`ChangeLog' contains an edit history.

The directory `test' contains programs to test the compiler during
its development and installation.

Everything else belongs to GNU Pascal's source code.


GNU Pascal has a home site in the World Wide Web,

    http://home.pages.de/~GNU-Pascal/

The most current GNU Pascal beta version can always be found at

    ftp://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/gnu-pascal/beta/

The last official distribution can always be found at

    ftp://agnes.dida.physik.uni-essen.de/gnu-pascal/


Please send comments, suggestions, and bug reports to the GNU Pascal
mailing list, `gpc@gnu.de'.  See the FAQ for details.


Enjoy,

  The GNU Pascal Development Team
