CFOG's PIP, August 1987, Volume 5 No. 10, Whole No. 58, page 4

Turbo Modula2: Recommended Reading

[I found these messages on the Lillipute Z-Node, 312-644-1730, in response to a recommendation for a book or books about Turbo Modula2. -- bhc]

[1] Well, let's see. I may not be the one to ask. I learned Turbo-pascal from programming it with the manual as my main text.

I learned Modula-2 from playing with the FTL compiler, and TM2 has deepened my understanding of it greatly. The TM2 manual is disastrously organized, but I have looked at three modula compilers (logitech as well, and TM2 is the BEST of a bad lot as far as manuals are concerned.)

I do have Wirth's book, and it is a must for settling arguments about what the standards are, but it pretty tough going for a beginner.

There is a book by Richard Weiner that, I would have liked to have had as a beginner but I didn't buy it because by the time it came out I had no use for it. Weiner is one of the best writers on the subject in my opionion, he also has a book on database programming in M2.

I have Modula-2 Programming by John W. L. Ogilvie but am not too crazy about this one.

Then a lot of folks recommend the Seafarer book by Gleaves, I think, but I have not seen it.

Any of these books would be helpful, none is absolutely necessary. If someone has some knowledge of Pascal, the transition will be much easier. Modula-2 really does seem in most cases like a more logical version of Pascal. Of course there's more to it than that. The idea of the MODULE is absolutely key, and as one learns it, along with the idea of a hierarchy of different level modules corresponding to different levels of the program logic, you do gain new insight into programming. Studying chapter 11 of the TM2 manual, in particular, the hierarchy of Modules FILES and TEXTS will give a good flavor of what I mean.

I hope this rambling is of some help to you. A perfectly structured and modular explanation it isn't, but then there are times you want structure and times you don't.

[2] After reviewing a few books I have the following recommendations to those individuals who already have some programming skills, especially in Pascal: Modula-2: A Software Development Approach (Ford and Weiner); Data Structures Using Modula-2 (Richard Sincovec); Modula-2 for Pascal Programmers (Richard Gleaves).

For people who aren't experienced in C or Pascal, or a similarly structured language, the best book I've seen (though it's not completely satisfactory) is Invitation to Modula-2 (Stuart Greenfield)

I also heartily recommend looking at the Public domain code available and asking lots of questions. N. Wirth's books (Modula-2, 3rd edition, and Algorithms and Data Structures, are better saved for after you know a little Modula-2 and have a program or two under your belt. You might suggest that they take advantage of the existing modules of re-usable code available here and elsewhere.