Discussion:
Modula-2 FAQ
(too old to reply)
Rick Sutcliffe
2009-04-19 22:50:50 UTC
Permalink
Archive-name: computer-lang/Modula2-faq/part1
Version: 2.32
Last-modified: 2007 01 25
Posting-frequency: Monthly


                Modula-2 Frequently Asked Questions


What is new in version 2.32 (2007 01 25)?
It's been a year and a half and there are few items to report.
Invalid links pointed out have been removed. Someday I'm going to
trim all the non-operative links, so I'd appreciate it if you would
let me know what's not working -- that is, if anyone is reading this.
The forum alternative to the Usenet news group at ArjayBB.com
(section 2.2.1) has been removed. It wasn't being used, the
conenction was hard to maintain, and bulletin boards get too much
spam.
The summary section 3.3 has been revised and expanded to all major
platforms. Note made that GPM does not run on spolaris 10 but the ULM
compiler does. Some information has been removed at the request of
manufacturers, who wish the only point of contact to be the web. One
old spelling error corrected (thanks Keith) and the GPM http links
corrected. The p1 section has been revised to reflect new products.
Under 1.11 (what is Modula-2 used for) answers have been expanded and
a new section (A10) added. The MegaMax Atari product has been removed
as the links appear no longer functional. The MOCKA links have been
alrtered and pruned. The GNU link was revised, and numerous small
changes were made throughout.
What was new in version 22.31 (2005 09 09)?
WThis one has another revision of A8 under 1.11, a new use under A9
of the same section, and a revised comment on GM-M2 in A4 of that
section. I have also revised answers relating to the Mac to clarify
that older compilers support only Classic, not OS X. The BURKS
project at Brighton has become defunct, so all references to this
resource have been removed.



SUMMARY:
1. Answers to many questions about Modula-2 as a programming notation
may be found in the shareware textbook. As always, users should pay
the shareware fee. See section 1.4.

2. Answers to most other frequently asked questions about Modula-2
will be collected by Rick Sutcliffe at Trinity Western University and
included in this document from time to time as it is revised.

3. Submissions should be mailed to -- rsutc-AT-arjay.bc.ca (modify
address in the obvious way)
Anyone making a submission guarantees that they have the right to do
so (copyright holder, or information in the public domain.) and that
the information is not from any source whose copyright lies with
another.

4. I will update this summary file and post to the newsgroups
comp.lang.modula2 and to comp.answers and news.answers

5. The latest version will always be available in a Nisus (Mac) form in
http://www.arjay.bc.ca/Modula-2/m2faq.html.
It is also available from the site rtfm.mit.edu in plain text form as
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/comp.answers/computer-lang/Modula2-faq/part1
and as
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet-by-group/comp.answers/computer-lang/Modula2-faq/part2


CONTENTS:
Part 1
1. WHAT IS MODULA-2?
2. WHERE IS MODULA-2 DISCUSSED?
3. WHERE CAN I GET MODULA-2 COMPILERS?
Part 2
4. WHERE CAN I GET SOURCE CODE, OTHER INFO?
5. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ON CODE AND ALGORITHMS
6. WHAT ARE SOME REFERENCE MATERIALS ON MODULA-2?
7. REVIEWS
Appendix: AUTHOR INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS


1. WHAT IS MODULA-2?
A. Modula-2 is a programming notation that corrects some of the
deficiencies of Pascal. It is suitable for learning programming, for
large projects written and maintained in the fashion of professional
software engineers, and for real time embedded systems. Modula-2 is
small, expressive, easy to learn, and to read.


1.1 Who developed Modula-2?
A. Modula-2 was developed by Niklaus Wirth at ETH in Zurich,
Switzerland in the late 70's. Wirth also developed Algol-W, Pascal,
Modula, and Oberon and the Lilith computer, a natively Modula-2
machine (see section 1.15).


1.2 Where is this language described?
A. In Programming in Modula-2 3rd edition published by
Springer-Verlag in 1985. For the purposes of distinguishing this from
later variants, this description will be referred to herein as
classical Modula-2.


1.3 How do you pronounce Herr Wirth's name?
A. It is incorrect to call him by his value (worth.) Instead his name is veart.


1.4 Can I get a simple introduction to ISO Modula-2?
Yes, the latest revised and corrected edition of the shareware text
as of 2004 is at  http://www.modula-2.com/
Mirror (for the text, not the FAQ): TWU http://www.csc.twu.ca/rsbook/index.html


1.5 How does Modula-2 fit into the language zoo?
A. It is a descendent of Pascal and Modula, and one predecessor of
Modula-2+, Modula-2*, Modula-3, Oberon, Oberon-2, and various object
oriented versions of these. The latter languages are not replacements
for Modula-2, merely later notations in the same family, having
strengths and weaknesses of their own. Modula-2 is sometimes
classified with Ada and C as the trio of modern languages in view of
their expressive power. Modula-2 is smaller and more readable than
either.


1.6 What are the differences between Modula-2 and Standard Pascal?
A. Modula-2 has separately compiled library modules, and makes much
less use of blocks (begin...) than Standard Pascal. Identifiers are
case sensitive; there is no goto label; and I/O is in libraries
rather than built in. The IF statement is more versatile; and there
are facilities for concurrent programming via coroutines. Extended
Pascals may have some of these features.


1.7 What is ISO Standard Modula-2?
A. A committee of ISO JTC1/SC22/WG13 with delegates from several
countries met after 1987 to work on a standard description of
Modula-2 and a set of standard library modules.

A2. The official home of the ISO Modula-2 working group WG13 is at
http://sc22wg13.twi.tudelft.nl/

1.7.1 What is the status of ISO Standard Modula-2?
A. The international standard (IS 10514) was voted on and is
official. The Object oriented extensions and Generic extensions were
also voted on and are official.

1.7.2 Where can I get the Modula-2 standard?
A1. Contact your national standards body or ISO (the publisher.)

A2. For a slightly older version, try looking in
ftp://ftp.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/pub/soft/modula/standard/draft4/

1.7.3 What format is the standard document in?
A. Latex.

1.7.4 Who was the convenor of the standards group (WG13)?
A. Martin Schoenhacker of Vienna was the last convenor.

1.7.5 When was the last WG13 meeting?
A1. It was March 17-18 1997 in Linz, Austria. For more details,
follow http://sc22wg13.twi.tudelft.nl/docs/meetings.html

1.7.6 When is the next WG13 meeting?
A1. No meeting is currently on the schedule. One may be held if
necessary to do routine maintenance on the standards, but at this
time WG13 is in maintenance mode--not operating actively.

1.7.7 Will I be able to read the standard?
A1. The concrete syntax is written in a variation of EBNF (Extended
Backus-Naur Formalism) and should be accessible to most.

A2. Much of the base document's details are written in VDM-SL (Vienna
Development Method - Specification Language) which is a formalism for
giving a precise definition of a programming language in a
denotational style. It is worth learning VDM-SL if you plan to write
a compiler or use formal methods to do any design work.

1.7.8 Can I at least get electronic copies of the definition modules?
A. Yes, in ftp://FTP.twu.ca/pub/modula2/ISOLibraries/ISODEFMods/ or
ftp://ftp.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/pub/soft/modula/standard/libdefs/

1.7.9 Can I get ISO library code to port?
A. Yes, a partial ISO library is available from Rick Sutcliffe, the
FAQ maintainer. He has done an ISO I/O library for the Mac, and
StonyBrook ported this to their system. Anyone else is welcome to do
a port provided: (1) TWU gets a license to the software produced (2)
All code changes are marked and submitted to Rick Sutcliffe for the
benefit of anyone else who wants to do a port.

1.7.10 Can I get copies of the grammar?
A1. Yes, in http:/www.arjay.bc.ca/Modula-2/Text /Appendices/Ap3.html
A2. For classical Modula-2, see also Coco (section 4.9)
A3. There are nice syntax diagrams for classical Modula-2 in
http://cuiwww.unige.ch/db-research/Enseignement/analyseinfo/Modula2/BNFindex.html
and there are syntax diagrams for ISO Modula-2 stored at
http://www.arjay.bc.ca/Modula-2/Text/Appendices/Ap2.html


1.8 What difference is there between classical and ISO Modula-2?
A. ISO Modula-2 has resolved most of the ambiguities in classical
Modula-2. It adds the data type COMPLEX and LONGCOMPLEX, exceptions,
module termination (FINALLY clause) and a complete standard I/O
library. There are numerous minor differences and clarifications.

1.8.1 What else has WG13 done?
A. WG13 has completed two additional standards (separate from the
main one) for (a) object oriented Modula-2 and (b) generic
programming facilities. Older versions of the generics proposal are
stored in the directory ftp://FTP.twu.ca/pub/modula2/WG13/

1.9 What is (was) Turbo Modula-2
A. Borland prepared CP/M versions of Modula-2 and sold them for a
time in Europe (also in North America via a distributer.) One of
these versions later migrated to become TopSpeed Modula-2.

1.10 What is (was) Top Speed Modula-2
See also 1.9. Eventually, Top Speed merged with Clarion, a maker of
database products, who used Modula-2 as their DB language, and for a
time sold Top Speed separately. Later still, this became
SoftVelocity, but the Modula-2 compiler has vanished. A fuller
history is available at http://www.attryde.com/clarion/.

1.11 Where and for what is Modula-2 used?
A1. Modula-2 is widely used for teaching the fundamentals of sound
programming techniques, data structures, and software engineering in
many parts of the world. It has been the language of choice in much
of Europe, though Java and C++ have made great inroads. Modula-2 has
features that make it superior to other languages for large projects
and for programming and real time controllers.

A2.Here is a reply by Andrew Trevorrow (***@kagi.com) who is the
author of several Macintosh programs written in p1 Modula-2: OzTex
(standard Tex implementation on the Mac) X-Words (a meta-Scrabble
word game), Anagrams (a fast and friendly anagram generator), LifeLab
(a software laboratory for 2D cellular automata, Googolator (an
arbitrary-precision calculator, X-Words Deluxe (a meta-Scrabble-like
game), and CrossCards (a combination of Scrabble and Poker.) His home
page is: http://www.trevorrow.com/

"Back in 92-93 I worked for the Australian National Uni's Research
School of Earth Sciences writing Noble, a large suite of programs to
control mass spectrometers and analyze all the data. Everything was
written in Modula-2 (the only reason I took the job!).
In fact, one of the reasons I decided to try making a living from
shareware was so that I could keep using Modula-2."

A3. General Motors and its subsidiary Delco have done their
programming in General Motors Modula-2. Up to a point, all GM car
computers were programmed in this language, though the keeper of the
FAQ is unable to confirm that this is still the case.

A4. Here is a message sent in by a maker of test equipment:
Our BoardWizard range of test equipment has compilers,pseudo-code
interpreters and a complete test operating system written in M2. The
code was written for one tester in 1987 and has been maintained from
that date to the present. New tester models have added and new
interface and UI code has been written, indeed sections have been
completely re-written but much of the core test logic is untouched
since about 1990 when I shifted to management. Much of the code is
unknown to those who maintain it - yet when i look at it after
several years I can still explain it to others even though comments
are sparse. I believe that that is the hallmark of a great
programming language. (Emphasis added.)
Dave Appleton,
Technical Manager
Goldtron Technologies Tel : (065)-870-9886
(Ex- Proteq Technologies) Fax: (065)-777-2118
26 Ayer Rajah Crescent #07-01 www: http://www.proteq.com.sg
Singapore 139944                          

A5. Here is an answer sent in by a developer:
Magic Mouse Productions
12615 Sir Francis Drake Blvd.
Inverness, CA 94937 USA
1-415-669-7010
http://www.magicmouse.com

The following products were made using Modula-2. The programs are all
about 100,000 lines long, and 99% Modula-2, with about 1% assembler
code for performance in critical areas.

Flying Colors 2, Anime Designer DragonBall, Action Designer
Ultraman, Tamagotchi
Sketch, Curious George Paint and Print Set -- all paint and
creativity programs.
Gorgeous Mail -- a new years card making program
JuniorNet web activities -- various creativity activities for
JuniorNet web subscription service
Discus -- CD label making program
Web Workshop Deluxe -- Web site design product

A5A. Here is a later rant sent in by the same person.
We make commercial software using Modula-2, and have been doing so
since the first appearance of the Logitech "Multiscope" compiler
about 17 years ago, and about a million lines later we are still
using Modula-2 to great effect.

I am proud to announce that Web Workshop Pro, a kids website editor,
is about to go "golden" and be released to the public. The program,
written in 98% Modula-2 (with a small assembler section), is
reliable, fast, and very efficiently coded. An almost identical
product in feature set and user interface style (but not as good)
called Site Central was written in C, and is 4 times larger in
executable. There is no better way to compare languages than to see
two similar products implemented in the same environment (macintosh +
windows), and see the result.

We use the excellent StonyBrook compiler (a fully integrated
development environment) for Windows, and the wonderful p1 compiler
under the Macintosh MPW development environment (ed. note: now also
available in XCode ).

We have a porting tool that converts between the two compilers,
although recent improvements to the StonyBrook compiler make it
almost possible to have identical source code.

We have implemented a quickdraw emulation layer for windows which
allows programs to run identically between macintosh and windows
platforms. This very layer eluded a very large company years ago, and
is crucial to having a single code base that operates on the mac and
windows in an identical manner.

100,000 lines of code, about 10 months to do. one programmer. Less
than 100 total bugs. I have an 800kb demo if anybody wants to have
one e-mailed.

Until I get a chance to build a compiler for my BEADS language, which
will reduce programming effort by at least 10:1, Modula-2 is the
simplest, cleanest, easiest to read,
tends-to-build-a-reliable-product language on the planet.

Java stinks! Modula-2 rules! (editor's note: Ouch!)


A6. Frank Schoonjans mention MedCalc (statistical software for
Windows, http://www.medcalc.be, developed using Stony Brook Modula-2,
his main work.

A7. The following survey results (though now out of date) were once
posted by Mat. Maher ***@reading.ac.uk

ORGANISATION LOCATION WORK COMPILER
Statoil Norway StonyBrook
Inst. for Space Nerology Austria datafile conversion TopSpeed
dataviewers
Boeing Washington Aerospace Eng. p1(MAC)
CDSS UK embedded control sys. TopSpeed
for submarines
(self-employed) UK embedded Pcs and TopSpeed
pc-like chips
(manufacturer) Finland, 8051 embedded control Mod51
S.Africa, 
Australia,
NZ, USA   
Pacific Software California Point-Of-Sale systems -
Tele-Soft S. Africa Scientific CAD progs TopSpeed
Databases
(confidential) UK Instrumentation & TopSpeed &
telemetry Custom tools
USA Dept. of Energy Idaho Reusable components StonyBrook
Idaho Nat. eng. labs systems programming
Locheed Idaho technologies company
Applied software resuse Products
GiaStar Ltd UK Satcoms/Comms. Elect. TopSpeed
design & m/facture.
University of Reading UK Teaching,embedded ctrl TopSpeed
University of Loughborough UK StonyBrook
and Hertsfordshire TopSpeed
(sole trader) UK Electronic Design TopSpeed
Atomic Energy of Canada Canada Shutdown system for prototype in
Ltd. (AECL) nuclear reactor TopSpeed
final version in
Hicross (HiWare)
Wallac Oy Finland beta/gamma counters Logitech,
control & data acquis. Multiscope
Inspectron AG Switzerland remote surveillance Logitech,
Multiscope
Bank of New York USA funds transfer ModulAware.com
(HP OpenVMS Alpha)
customer enquiries Logitech (VAX/VMS)
(freelance) Motorola IC production Logitech
line tools. (Asia)
Dexdyne Ltd UK Single-board Pcs & TopSpeed
applications.
(freelance) Australia Shareware p1 (mac)
Multi-Master AS Norway Embedded systems, Logitech,
remote control & acquis. Multiscope
(confidential) room acoustic sim & TopSpeed
(audio) virtual reality

A8. (revised 2005 09 06) The keeper of the FAQ notes that he still
occasionally gets contracts to evaluate Modula-2 code in takeover
situations and the like. Usually this code is for controllers, other
real time devices, telecommunications applications, and the like
(sorry, specifics are under non-disclosure). However, there can be
little doubt that apart from real time applications, Modula-2 use has
declined steadily since the early 1990s. The author still finds it
invaluable for teaching new programmers good habits, but acknowledges
that without a new suite of uses, little will remain of it in a few
more years. Perhaps the GNU project and the Objective Modula-2
project for Cocoa (and other environments already using Objective C)
will breathe new life into the language. Modula-2 is not the only
good notation to suffer in the mad rush to conform to C++ peer
pressure. Overweight big brother Ada has also vanished. Lots of
real-life programmers use Delphi (Pascal++) but there are virtually
no textbooks available. Likewise for Smalltalk. Much work takes place
in scripting languages (Perl, php, JavaScript/ECMAScript,
AppleScript, Python, etc.) or in Java however these are all to dome
degree unsuiotable for commercial work on large projects.

A9. The Proceedings of the Joint Modular Languages Conference, JMLC
2003 (LNCS 2789), contains an article by Koltashev wherein he
discusses the benefits of using Modula-2 for the onboard-software
used in Russian telecommunications satellites.

A10. The p1 page notes a number of large commercial products written
using its compiler. These include Andrew Trevorrow's programs
described above in A2, the magicmouse software mentioned in A5,
Curious George Paint and Print Studio published by HMI Interactive
(http://www.hminet.com), the Anime designer Dragon Ball Z, and the
CAD program Pythagoras (http://www.pythagoras.net)

1.12 Why do some universities use Modula-2 for teaching instead of C or C++?
A1. Modula-2 is a type-safe language and its compilers will therefore
catch many errors that otherwise show up only at run time. While
professional programmers need to learn C++ because it is commonly
used, it is important to begin a discipline of deliberate, engineered
programming at the outset. Modula-2 is easier to write in, easier to
read (it reads left to right) and easier to debug. It lends itself
well to software engineering of very large projects. Modula-2 is a
higher level language than C++, particularly with respect to
pointers, all of which have types that depend on what is pointed to,
and that can be treated as addresses only by flagging this fact in
the code. A good computing science department (such as the one at
Trinity Western University, where I teach,) tries to inculcate a way
of thinking (as a software engineer, not a hacker) and beyond that, a
breadth of ideas. At TWU C, C++, Java, Prolog, php, and other
languages, are taught in appropriate courses, and on a variety of
platforms, but not to beginners. Frankly, if I had to switch, my
first choice would be Delphi, Ada or Oberon, and after that Java (if
it ever became reliably cross platform.) If I had to try teaching
beginners C++, I would retire. Objective Modula-2 seems interesting,
though.

A2. Popularity no more implies soundness or superiority when
considering tools such as Modula-2 and C++ than it does when
considering hardware (Pentium vs PowerPC), operating systems (Windows
vs Mac) and applications (Word vs Nisus). Marketing means selling the
sizzle of appearance not the steak of content; those who know this
and can apply it consistently win the marketing wars with inferior or
even poor products. The market situation is no reason to give up on
the basics of sound tools and methodology. If anything the cirisis
implied by the inability of large companies to maintain poorly
designed and bloated software and OSs implies that the industry needs
to return to basics before it is going to advance much farther.


1.13 Why is Modula-2 a good language for large commercial projects?
A1. It supports modular design which reduces errors and cuts down on
maintenance time. This also allows platform dependencies to be
isolated, increasing portability. I/O is found in several
type-specific modules, so linkers only patch in the I/O code that's
needed, making programs smaller and faster. This is in sharp contrast
to, say, the versatile but resource hungry printf in C.

A2. see: Griffith, Laurie Modula-2 is three times less error prone
than C, Proceedings of the Second International Modula-2 Conference,
Loughborough University of Technology, UK, September 1991, pp 332-338.

1.14 Where do I get information on YAFL?
A. This is yet another OO and Generic derivative of Modula-2. The
homepage for the language is at http://www.phidani.be/yafl/index.html

1.15 Where do I get information on the Lilith Computer?
A. This was the natively Modula-2 machine Wirth once built. A
collection of documentation and other material is located at
http://cfbsoftware.com/modula2/

1.16 Is there a GNU  Modula-2?
There is a GNU Modula-2 project which is alive and well and its web
site is: http://www.nongnu.org/gm2/. The current release status of
GNU Modula-2 is 0.49 and it implements the PIM variant of Modula-2.
It provides a set of PIM libraries and also installs the ULM PIM
libraries. It is sufficiently stable to build on Sparc Solaris in 64
bits and also GNU/Linux on Opteron/Athlon in 64 bits. It also builds
on BSD and GNU/Linux on the x86 in 32 bits. Its aim is to be both ISO
and PIM Modula-2 compliant. (Also, see the next question).

1.17 Are there any M2 compilers that support Cocoa and/or GNUstep,
say an Objective Modula-2?
A: At present there is no M2 compiler which supports GNUstep. The
latest p1 compiler does run under XCode. There is a project under
way (as of 2005 07) to define language extensions to support the
Objective-C object model and interface with the Objective-C runtime,
which is necessary in order to develop applications for Cocoa and
GNUstep. The idea is to add extensions in support of OO to a base
Modula-2 which are equivalent to the extensions by which Objective-C
was created as a superset of C, but do so in a way that is in line
with Modula-2 style syntax. It is intended to support those
extensions in GNU Modula-2.

More information on the project's work in progress can be found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objective_Modula-2 or by sending email
to objm2-AT-yahoo.co.uk.


2. WHERE IS MODULA-2 DISCUSSED?

2.1 COMP.LANG.MODULA-2
This is an internet newsgroup for questions, answers, and discussions
on Modula-2. You may read it under this name on any machine on which
you have a news account.


2.1.1 How do I post a message to comp.lang.modula2?
A. Post to that group using a news program on any computer connected
to the network.

2.1.2 How do I retrieve old messages from comp.lang.modula2?
A. Your local news server probably keeps old messages only for a few
weeks. You should be able to mark the entire group as unread and
browse whatever is available there. The last couple of years' are on
the forum at arjaybb.com.


2.2 Amiga lists

2.3.1 A general list for Amiga Modula2/Oberon programming. This is
available in a similar manner at amiga-***@virginia.edu. It is not
oriented toward any specific compiler.To subscribe, send mail to
***@virginia.edu containing the message "subscribe
***@youraddress.yourdom amiga-m2".

2.2.2 A mailing-list for the Amiga Turbo Modula-2 Compiler written by
Amritpal S. Mann. To subscribe, send a message to
***@econet.demon.co.uk with SignOn turbo-list as the Subject.
Once subscribed, you will receive a copy of all messages sent to the
address turbo-***@econet.demon.co.uk.



2.3 Gardens Point Modula-2
To join the GPM mailing list, send mail to ***@dstc.qut.edu.au
with the subject line blank and the body
of the message containing:
subscribe gpm
info gpm
end
Mail sent to ***@dstc.qut.edu.au gets automatically forwarded to all
subscribers on the list. The development team are of course subscribers.


2.4 Win32
To join, send mail to ***@nhm-wien.ac.at
with a blank subject line and the body Subscribe m2-win95-nt-l (your name)
Maintainer: Peter Stadler


2.5 ModulaTor
This is a regular publication by Guenter Dotzel of ModulAware.
Back issues are available at: http://www.modulaware.com/mdltr_.htm


3. WHERE CAN I GET MODULA-2 COMPILERS?

3.1 Where can I get commercial Modula-2 compilers?

In this section, the listings are by name of the manufacturer (marked
M) or distributor (marked D.)


A+L AG
activity D
products Compilers, applications, and books.
platforms various
office Daderiz 61
CH-2540 Grenchen
Switzerland
contact Albert Meier
e-mail ***@spectraweb.ch
voice +41/65/52 03 11
fax +41/65/52 03 79


Excelsior, LLC (replaces XDS)
activity M
products Native XDS-x86 - Modula-2/Oberon-2 2.32 compiler for x86
(Windows, OS/2, Linux)
XDS-C - Modula-2/Oberon-2 "via C" cross compiler (multiple platforms)
H2D (freeware) translates C header files to M2 Def Mods
Portable run-time library in C source code form
POSIX and Win32 API definition modules platforms PC/OS/2 V3
V4 (Warp), PC/Win95, PC/WNT PC/Linux,
Sun/Sparc Solaris, Sun/Sparc SunOS, HP PA-Risc/HP-UX,
others on request. (Mac no longer supported.)

e-mail ***@excelsior-usa.com
also sold by ModulAware, and Real Time Associtaes
check the shareware/demo section (below) for product availability
Excelsior WWW home page:
http://www.excelsior-usa.com/
fully functional evaluation kits are available from the site
also see ModulaWare, and Real Time Associates for product availability


Gardens Point
activity MD
products Gardens Point Modula-2
platforms Various Unix, including Linux but not Solaris 10, and
FreeBSD, DJGPP, EMX (OS/2)
and MS-DOS (no Mac)
office Queensland University of Technology
Gardens Point Branch
2 George Street
POB 2434 Brisbane
Queensland Australia 4001
contact John Gough
e-mail ***@qut.edu.au
contact Jeffrey Ledermann
e-mail ***@dstc.qut.edu.au
web       http://plas.fit.qut.edu.au/gpm/
voice +61 7-864-2132
fax +61 7-864-1801
see mail list and net sections


Mandeno Granville Electronics Ltd
activity MD
products Mod51 : 80x51 Cross Compiler, ISO extensions
Optimised for Embedded Control, Includes some
IEC1131 Extensions.
DbgX51 : Remote Debugger for Mod51 Compiler
IcePGM : ICE and Programmers, for FLASH cores,
using Mod51 platforms DOS Hosted
office 128 Grange Rd
Auckland 3
New Zealand
contact
e-mail ***@DesignTools.co.nz
voice +64 9 6300 558
fax +64 9 6301 720
web       http://www.designtools.co.nz/

The (Mill Hill) J.Neuhoff - mhccorp.com
activity MD
product Canterbury Modula-2 for Java (PIM, non-ISO
object oriented extensions similar to Oberon-2 )
platform Any platform which supports Java, such as
Windows XP/2003, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix
contact J.Neuhoff
e-mail neuhoff at mhccorp.com
WWW         http://www.mhccorp.com/modula-2.html
demo        http://www.mhccorp.com/modula-2.zip
office MHCCorp.com
P.O.Box 4310
Colchester-Brightlingsea
CO7 0WR
United Kingdom


ModulAware
activity MD
prod/plat Compaq OpenVMS Alpha: Modula-2 and Oberon-2
64 bit native-code compiler, MaX V5.02 and A2O V3.0, and
64 bit Oberon System V4
Compaq OpenVMS VAX: Modula-2
32 bit native-code compiler, MVR V4.16
web       www.modulaware.com


p1 GmbH
activity MD
products MPW, Code Warrier, and XCode hosted ISO compliant compilers
NOTE: Current(sic) versions of MPW have odds and sods for ISO Modula-2
written by R. Sutcliffe, for your editing enjoyment. Also note that
Code warrior is defunct as far as OS X is concerned.
platforms Macintosh OS9 (MPW), OS X (command line and Xcode; will
generate universal binaries)
office Hogenbergstrasse. 20
80686 Munich
Germany
contact Elmar Henne
e-mail ***@p1.space.net
voice +49 89-546 13 10
fax +49 89-580 25 97
web       http://www.awiedemann.de/compiler/index.html


Real Time Associates Ltd.
activity D
products Compilers, books, and training courses
platforms numerous
office Canning House 59
Canning Road Croyden Surrey
CR0 6QF UK
Tel: +44 20 8656 7333
Fax: +44 20 8656 7334


Stony Brook Software
activity MD
products Stonybrook Modula-2 ISO compatible. (Environment, editor,
resource editor, librarian, context sensitive help, optimizing compiler,
linker, debugger, many extra libraries, including COM, RTL sources)
Also offers Pascal+
platforms 16bit DOS, 32bit DOS extended, 16bit Windows, 32bit Windows
32-bit Linux on IA-32 processors, 32-bit Solaris/SunOS on SPARC
processors.
office StonyBrook is now defunct, bought out by a company that will
not continue the compiler. The last release was number 31.



TERRA Datentechnik
activity MD
products Logitech/Multiscope Modula-2 and support
Distributor for Stony Brook Modula-2 (see listing)
Logitech compatible libraries for Stony Brook Modula-2
Real and protected mode ROM tools for 80x86 based embeeded
Modula-2 systems
TERRA M2VMS/Alpha and M2VMS/VAX
platforms 16bit DOS, 32bit DOS extended, 16bit Windows, 32bit Windows,
DEC OpenVMS/Alpha and OpenVMS/VAX
office Bahnhofstrasse 33b
CH-8703 Erlenbach
Switzerland
voice +41 01 910 35 55
fax +41 01 910 19 92
bbs +41 01 910 35 31
e-mail ***@TerraTerra.ch
web       http://www.TerraTerra.ch/





3.2 Where can I get a free/shareware compiler on the net?


Fitted Software Tools (FST) Modula-2 for DOS
ftp://ftp.psg.com/pub/modula-2/fst/fst-40s.lzh
contact: Roger Carvalho
e-mail: ***@verizon.co
Note: This compiler was developed by Roger Carvalho but is no longer
actively supported. It essentially conforms to PIM version 3, but also
supports some simple and interesting OOP extensions.
P. O. Box 867403 Plano, TX 75023 USA
Warning: A reader cautions that FST may not work at all if you have
an AMI BIOS.

Amiga Aglet Modula-2

Version: 2.5-AOS4-Pre-Release (21.1.2005)
Description: compiler for AOS4 running under M68K emulation
Author: ***@virginia.edu (Tom Breeden)
Status: "as-is", unwarrantied, freeware compiler package
Platforms: AmigaOne AOS4 Pre-release, Amiga 68K or WinUAE AOS 3.9
Web: http://home.ntelos.net/~tbreeden/
Features: some ISO compatibility, including ISO IO Libr (courtesy R.
Sutcliffe et.al.)
interface to most Amiga system librs, including Reaction
includes 50+ programming support modules, with source
"first cut" IDE using CygnusEd or GoldEd
Future: further development, if any, will be targeted to replacing
with a PPC compiler

GCC Version
Title: m2f
Version: 4.2
Entered-date: 5NOV01
Description: a complete Modula-2 compiler based on 2nd Edition PIM
Keywords: Modula-2 compiler linux
Author: ***@glam.ac.uk (Gaius Mulley)
Maintained-by: ***@glam.ac.uk
Site: http://floppsie.comp.glam.ac.uk
Platforms: gcc
Copying-policy: GPL
available in source and binary in rpm or tar.gz format from
Features:
+ Full debugging via emacs/gdb
+ -students flag performs extra semantic checking
for dangerous novice programming styles.
    
NOTE: Mide3de2 is a windows IDE for the FST modula-2 compiler. It is
available from http://sourceforge.net/projects/mide3de2/

Gardens Point Modula-2 for DOS, Linux and FreeBSD
ftp://ftp.fit.qut.edu.au//pub/gpm_modula2/
ftp://ftp.psg.com/pub/modula-2/gpm
(The EMX version runs under OS/2 in protected mode and can be used to
generate OS/2 PM applications. It relies on the GNU tools from the EMX
package ported by Eberhard Mattes
***@azu.informatik.uni-stuttgart.de which can be found at:
ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/systems/os2/ and various
other mirror sites.

MacLogimo for Macintosh Classic (not X)
ftp://ftp.psg.com/pub/modula-2/mac/maclogimo/

MacMETH Modula-2 for Macintosh Classic (not X)
http://www.sysecol.ethz.ch/SimSoftware/SimSoftware.html#MacMETH
Note that MacMETH is also released as part of RAMSES
http://www.sysecol.ethz.ch/RAMSES/MacMETH.html.
RAMSES provides a full featured programming environment for Mac OS 9,
containing all of MacMETH (compilers, linkers, symbolic break debugger,
macro editor or language support for Alpha editor) plus hundreds more of
libary modules useful in the context of programing and for scientific
applications. RAMSES contains also the 'Dialog Machine', a platform
independent GUI (see
http://www.ito.umnw.ethz.ch/SysEcol/SimSoftware/RAMSES/DialogMachine.html).
'Dialog Machine' implementations exist for MacOS, GEM (no longer
available), Windows (3.1 .. up to current versions), and Unix. All
software we have developed, is offered via the internet as freeware.
Contact: Andreas Fischlin ***@ito.umnw.ethz.ch

MOCKA - Modula Compiler Karlsruhe (Non ISO)
Universitaet Karlsruhe
Institut fuer Programm- und Datenstrukturen
Vincenz-Priessnitz-Strasse 3
D-76128 Karlsruhe (FRG)
Phone: *-49-721-608 6088 FAX: *-49-721-691462
contact: Thilo Gaul
email: [modula|gaul]@ipd.info.uni-karlsruhe.de

SUN 4 | SUN OS | SPARC |
SUN 4 | Solaris2.x/SunOS 5.0| SPARC |
DEC Station | ULTRIX | R3000, R2000 (MIPS) |
Silicon | IRIX | R3000, R2000 (MIPS) |
Graphics | | |
Sony NEWS | News | MC 68020 with 68881 |
SUN 3 | SUN OS | MC 68020 with 68881 |
HP 9000/300 | HPUX | MC 68020 with 68881 |
HP 9000/700 | HPUX | C back end |
RS6000 | AIX | C back end |
PC | Linux | 80386 | +
PC | 386BSD | 80386 | +
C-back end | UNIX | different |
translates | | |
M-2 To C | | |

The versions marked with a + are free; no order form must be sent, no
license fee to be paid. If you use them, please send an email to
***@ipd.info.uni-karlsruhe.de.
For more information have a look to
http://www.info.uni-karlsruhe.de/~modula/index.php


Ulm's Modula-2 System m2c (non-ISO)
web page:  http://www.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/modula/
all distributions come along with all sources which may be
freely distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License
SPARCv8 / Solaris to version 10
     ftp://ftp.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/pub/soft/modula/ulm/sun4/
MC68020 / SunOS 4.x
     ftp://ftp.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/pub/soft/modula/ulm/sun3/
contact: Andreas Borchert ***@mathematik.uni-ulm.de

Excelsior, LLC
( Windows 95/NT, OS-2, Linux native code and "via C" compilers. ISO
compatible.)
Makes demo and pre-release versions with some restrictions available.
The download site for all versions is:
http://www.excelsior-usa.com

M2Amiga (Open source Modula-2 Compiler for the Commodore Amiga)
Sources and Binaries can be obtained from http://m2amiga.claudio.ch/



3.3 How about a Summary of ISO Products for Major platforms?
MS-DOS: GPM, ModulAware, Stony Brook
Windows95/NT: Stony Brook, XDS
OS/2: Mill Hill, XDS, GPM
MacOS9: p1 (version 7.3
MacOS X: p1 (version 8)
BSD: GPM
Linux: XDS, GPM
OpenVMS: ModulAware

3.4 Is there such a thing as a decompiler for Modula-2?
Nope. But feel free to write one. Be sure to include a facility to
produce the planning
documents from which the Modula-2 code could be constructed and one
to find out what
the users wanted before the planning documents were written.
--
Rick Sutcliffe Professor Math/Cmpt Trinity Western University. Try
<http://www.arjay.bc.ca> for Christian SF, books on Modula-2 and
Ethics in Technology. Forum at <http://arjaybb.com>
--
- Nick Boalch, one of the *.answers moderators
<news-answers-***@mit.edu>
Rick Sutcliffe
2009-04-19 22:50:51 UTC
Permalink
Archive-name: computer-lang/Modula2-faq/part2
Version: 2.32
Last-modified: 2007 01 25
Posting-frequency: Monthly

Modula-2 Frequently Asked Questions Part 2
4. WHERE CAN I GET SOURCE CODE, OTHER INFO?

4.1.1 Is there source or other info available on the net?
A. Here are some net sites I have accessed at one time or another. I
am not sure if all are still available or what is in them.
ftp://ftp.psg.com/pub/modula-2/
http://www.arjay.bc.ca/Modula-2/m2faq.html ( Home of this FAQ)
ftp://ftp.inf.ethz.ch/pub/
ftp://NIC.SWITCH.CH
ftp://ftp.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/pub/soft/modula/

WWW sites
http://dir.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Programming_and_Development/Languages/Modula_2/

http://i44www.info.uni-karlsruhe.de/~modula

http://modula2.org


4.2 What other FAQs or lists of pages are available?
A1. http://dmoz.org/Computers/Programming/Languages/Modula-2/Compilers/
A2.http://murray.newcastle.edu.au/users/staff/peter/m2/Modula2.html
A3.http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a9406973/modula2/

4.3 Where can I find graphics libraries, etc?
A. Try the PMOS library for various platforms at one of the following sites:
ftp://ftp.psg.com/pub/modula-2/code (North America)
ftp://cs.ru.ac.za/pub/languages (South Africa)
ftp://dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl/pub/modula2 (Western Europe)
ftp://ftp.cnit.nsu.ru/pub/msdos/programm.ing/modula2 (Eastern Europe).

4.4 Are there any mathematical libraries available?
A1. See Numerical Procedures in Modula-2 -- authorized translation of
Numerical recipes in Pascal from PolyWare (Klara Vancso):
***@telic.nl (work) OR ***@tip.nl (home) The CD-ROM has
the Modula-2 sources. See http://www.nr.com Note that sources given
in this book are of the "quick and dirty" variety and cannot be sold
as such, only in compiled form.

A2. LMathLib is a library that defines a number of mathematical
functions for Modula 2 programs. Unlike other libraries of the same
kind, LMathLib patches the Modula 2 compiler. All library functions
are inlined as assembler code for the Floating Point Unit. This
results in faster code compared to the traditional solution with
subroutine calls. Due to this machine dependent technique, you can
use the library ONLY with the (free) GMD Modula System Mocka for
Linux on INTEL based machines. You can get the LMathLib library via
anonymous ftp from
ftp://tee-1.tee.uni-essen.de/pub/Mocka/(132.252.131.33) Documentation
is included.

A3. MATHPAK 87/32 is available for most 32-bit compilers. A lite
version for Canterbury M2 is freely downloadable from
http://www.webcom.com/mhc/welcome.html
Features:
Written fully in INTEL CPU machine language
Math Coprocessor control
Basic Math functions
Vector and Vector-Scalar Routines
Vector and Vector-Scalar 'Skip' Procedures
Complex Number Routines
Complex Vector and Vector-Scalar Routines
Polynomial Manipulation Routines
Simple Matrix and Vector-Matrix Routines
Solving Systems of Linear and Nonlinear Equations
Unconstrained Minimization
Nonlinear Least-Squares Minimization
Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
Singular Value Decomposition
Extrapolation of Vector-Sequences
Statistical and Data-Fitting Rountines
Fourier Transforms and Convolution
Spectral Analysis Routines
Numerical Integration
Differential Equations


4.5 Where can I get a Modula-2 to C converter?
A: The program mtc is available from
ftp://ftp.ira.uka.de/pub/programming/cocktail/mtc.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.Uni-Koeln.DE/usenet/comp.archives/languages/modula-2/mtc/
An already ported version for DOS+DJGPP can be found at
ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/unix/programming/modula/
Several of the compilers available work or can work by producing C or
C++ code and can also serve this purpose. See p1, XDS and Ulm's m2c
(not the same as mtc) listings for examples.


4.6 Where can I get a Modula-2 to Modula-3 converter?
A. m2tom3 is available under the terms of the GNU Library General
Public License from
ftp://ftp-i3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de/pub/Modula-3-Contrib/m2tom3/
m2tom3 is a system to port Modula-2 programs to Modula-3. It consists
of two parts:
- A conversion program which tries to create a Modula-3 source text
with the same semantics as the Modula-2 input while retaining the
original look and feel as good as possible.
- A base library which tries to emulate the Modula-2 standard library
using the Modula-3 standard library.
contact: Peter Klein
office: Ahornstrasse 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany
e-mail: ***@i3.informatik.rwth-aachen.de.
Tel.: +49/241/80-21316
Fax.: +49/241/8888-218


4.7 Where can I get a Modula-2 to Component Pascal converter?
A.This is available from http://www.lrz.de/~Bernhard_Treutwein/m2o.txt
Note: Component Pascal is an Oberon dialect, but the translator does
not use any CP specific features, i.e. generates standard Oberon-2.

4.8 Are there any Modula-2 applications around?
A. Besides the items mentioned in 1.11, the Idaho National
Engineering Laboratory (INEL) develops and maintains a now
~350,000 line MODULA-2 reusable component library called SAGE. For
more information on SAGE send E-Mail to ***@sage.inel.gov or see
the web site at http://sage.inel.gov/homepage.htm


4.9 Are there any compiler construction tools available?
A1. Some old ones appear in ftp://ftp.gmd.de/GMD/cocktail/

A2. Coco/R generates recursive descent parsers and their associated
scanners from attribute grammars. Full source code, and a variety of
simple example applications are supplied in the distribution kits.
The Modula versions (1.50 is the latest) are available from
ftp://ftp.ssw.uni-linz.ac.at/pub/Coco/ and the Java versions are
there too, at ftp://ftp.ssw.uni-linz.ac.at/pub/Coco/javacoco.htm
See also:
ftp://ftp.inf.ethz.ch:/pub/software/Coco
ftp://ftp.psg.com:/pub/modula-2/coco
ftp://cs.ru.ac.za:/pub/coco
ftp://ftp.fit.qut.edu.au:/pub/coco
There are versions for the MS-DOS compilers (JPI, FST, Logitech,
StonyBrook, Gardens Point), for the Mocka compiler for Linux and
FreeBSD, as well as for the Gardens Point Unix compilers, including
Linux and FreeBSD. There is also a version that produces TurboPascal
units very similar to the Modula-2 modules. This is also FreePascal
compliant now. A port for the p1 compiler on Mac OS 9 is also
available. Latest information is available at
http://cs.ru.ac.za/homes/cspt/cocor.htm. Pat Terry's textbook
"Compilers and Compiler Generators" that uses Coco/R is now online at
http://www.scifac.ru.ac.za/compilers

A2. A copy of the EBNF for ISO Modula-2 can be found in Appendix 3 of
the shareware text at:
http://www.modula-2.com

4.10 Is there an applications framework for Windows programming?
A. Try looking at
ftp://ftp.ifi.uio.no/pub/sjr/m2afx.zip
orftp://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/platforms/pc/windows/programming/modula/m2afx.zip

This software is an application framework that implements a number of
classes that encapsulate the weirdness of the Windows C API and
attempts to present it in a cleaner way to the Modula-2 programmer.

4.11 Does there exist something to convert a C header file to a
Modula-2 DEFINITION MODULE file for me?
A. Try looking at the XDS Ltd site for the H2D freeware product on
some platforms

4.12 Where can I get the C code of a Modula-2 compiler?

A. Most Modula-2 compilers are written in Modula-2. It seems
rather strange to me that one would want to trust the compilation of a
good language to a tool written in a poor one.




4.13 What can I do with  old sources from Modula Corp?

A. From the former president Richard Ohran (***@vinca.com):
"Modula Corp. is dead. Do whatever you like."



4.14 Are there source code examples anywhere for Windows programmers?

A. Translations of Example Programs in Charles Petzold's book
"Programming Windows 95" from Visual C++ to Stony Brook and XDS
Modula-2 by Peter Stadler, Vienna can be found at:
http://www.nhm-wien.ac.at/Petzold/Index.html


4.15 Isn't there a Modula-Prolog project somewhere?

A. Try ABB Corporate Research and Carlo Muller, who may license it to
you for non-commercial purposes. mailto:***@swissonline.ch

4.16 Is C. Lins SCL library available?

A. Yes, at

http://www.aha.ru/~uranus/download/scl.zip

4.17 Can you help me with my assignments?
A1. Some people may give you hints, but please do not subvert your
professor and your education by submitting work other people do for
you.

A2. Here are two answers submitted to the newsgroup in response to a
desperate student's plea for ANY Modula-2 program. The first is
rather prosaic; the second a little more imaginative:
MODULE homework;

IMPORT STextIO;

BEGIN
LOOP
STextIO.WriteString ("I will do my own homework.");
STextIO.WriteLn;
END;
END homework.

main()
{
int i;

for(i=0; i<!--&#60100; i++) 
printf("I will do my own homework.\n");

}

Followup Question: Is that Modula-2? I just finished my first course
in Modula-2 and that don't look at all familiar. I'm not looking
forward to the final exam.
A. (Pat Terry) Computer Science changes sooo rapidly. Haven't you
discovered Modula-2++ yet?


5. SPECIFIC QUESTIONS ON CODE AND ALGORITHMS

5.0 Where can I get general information on algorithms?
A Try the site  http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~algorith/

5.1 Where can I get an algorithm for an efficient random number generator?
A1. Pierre L'Ecuyer: Efficient and Portable Combined Random Number
Generators, Communications of the ACM, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 742-749.
The RNG has a period of approximately 2.3E+18. Generating 1 000 000
numbers per second, that means that it would take over 73 000 years
before it repeated a sequence.

A2.Look in the PMOS library. This one uses the 'Minimal standard
random number generator' described by Park & Miller, CACM 31,10,Oct
88 p1192. The code has been checked for the 10001st random as
specified in Park & Miller p1195. One site is:
ftp://ftp.psg.com/pub/modula-2/code/random/

A3. A pseudo random generator using the subtractive method taken from
Knuth, Seminumerical Algorithms, 3.2.2 and 3.6, belongs to Ulm's
Modula-2 System that is distributed under the terms of the GPL (and
in case of the library under the terms of the LGPL). More
informations may be found at 
http://www.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/modula/ and 
http://www.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/modula/man/man3/RandomGenerator.html


5.2 How can I prevent NIL pointer errors?
A.First guard your reference by writing
IF (myPointer # NIL) AND (myPointer^.fieldname =)...etc.

Because Modula-2 has short circuited Boolean expression evaluation,
the first part guards the second from being evaluated
inappropriately. Then, take the radical, unC-like step of checking
your code design for the logical error that led to the incorrect
reference in the first place.



5.3 Why doesn't my IF statement compile?
A.See the example in the last subsection. Boolean expressions must be
delineated with parentheses.



5.4 Can I assume numeric variables are set to zero and Booleans to FALSE?
A. No. The values of variables are random until your code sets them.
Declaring does not initialize.




5.5 Why do conversions from real to whole types sometimes crash?
A.You need to protect your conversion code by using MAX (TYPE) and
MIN (TYPE) which are part of the ISO Modula-2 base language.



5.6 Does a CASE statement always need an ELSE clause?
A. No, but it's not a bad idea, even if you think you have covered
all the cases. If you have, a good compiler might optimize your code
away, but if you haven't, you could be in for trouble.



5.7 What are the system types to which all other parameters are compatible?
A.Just LOC and ARRAY OF LOC (one dimension). This does not work for
multidimensional arrays of LOC, and there are no defined BYTE and
WORD types, though implementations may include them as well.



5.8 How do I control the serial port, mouse, network card, TCP/IP or
other communications protocol or peripheral?
A.These are system dependent, and no modules for this can be found in
the standard. A vendor MAY supply them. Ask.




5.9 Does the object model for OO-Modula-2 have garbage collection or not?
A. BOTH traced (collected) and untraced (roll your own memory
management) objects are available in ISO OO Modula-2.



5.10 What is the arity of inheritance for OO-Modula-2?
A. Single inheritance only.



5.11 What do you use the generic extensions for?
A. These allow you to write code for structures such as lists or
queues, or for routines such as a sort, without initially specifying
the data types that are in the structure or the target of the
routine. The initial module is called a generic module. Such modules
can be refined for the specific data types by a refining separate
module (library) or a refining local module.

5.12 How do I clear the screen?
A. This non-standard functionality may be present in a module called Terminal.

5.13 How do redirect screen and keyboard I/O?
A. This non-standard functionality may be present in a module called
InOut or (in an extension to ISO versions) in RedirStdIO. The
procedure to use is OpenInput (or OpenOutput). Unfortunately these
behave differently in every version (one of the reasons we built a
standard). Some versions produce a prompt at runtime, others take a
file name. The latter may or may not require a file extension. They
may look for the name as you have provided it and if they don't find
it, try with the default extension .txt Others have a way of entering
the extension. You will have to consult the documentation.

5.14 Why use the colon before the type in a VAR declaration, and why
have the vertical bar as a case separator rather than a semicolon?
A. The se are both "syntactic sugar" to help the compiler know what
it's doing. For instance, if there were no colon in a type
declaration, the compiler would not know the last identifier is
supposed to be a type name because it wouldn't know it was last until
checking the next token. Lookaheads are expensive. Also, there was no
need for subsequent committees and designers to change this from
Wirth's definition. After all, there is no ambiguity here.



6. WHAT ARE SOME REFERENCE MATERIALS ON MODULA-2?

A1. A shareware text I have written (and that MAY be the only
currently maintained English language instructional text on Modula-2)
is available. See section 1.4.
A2.The manuals for some of the commercial products contain much
useful information.

A3. The Gardens Point sites have documentation available (see their
listing above.)

A4. A document called Modula-2 for Pascal programmers (Postscript,10
pages) may be fetched by anonymous ftp at
ftp://ee.newcastle.edu.au/pub/modula2/Modula2.ps.Z
The author has not updated the contents for a couple of years, so
there may be inaccuracies in terms of the current language standard.

A5. A variety of ETH papers are stored at ftp.ftp.ethz.ch in
/doc/diss, /doc/tech-reports and /pub/oberon/docu

A6. What follows is a BIBLIOGRAPHY of some published materials in a
table delimited by two spaces between fields:

Author Title City Publisher Year Subject

Adams, J. Mack Gabrini, Philippe J & Kurtz, Barry L. An
Introduction to Computer Science with Modula-2 Lexington, MA D.C.
Heath & Co 1988
Backhurst, Nigel G. Mastering Modula 2 Wilmslow Sigma 1988
Beidler, John & Jackowitz, Paul  Modula-2 Boston Prindle
Weber & Schmidt 1985
Blaschek, G. & Pomberger, G. Introduction To Programming With
Modula-2 Springer-Verlag 1990
Budgen, David  Software Development with Modula-2 Reading,
MA Addison-Wesley 1989
Carmony, Lowell A. & Holliday, Robert L.  A First Course In
Modula-2 New York Computer Science Press c1990
Carroll, D. W. Advanced Modula-2 Programming for the IBM PC
XT and AT Elsevier 1986
Chirlian, Paul M. Introduction to Modula-2 Beaverton, Or.
Matrix Publishers
Christian, Kaare  A guide to Modula-2 New York Springer-Verlag 1986
Cooling, J.E. Modula-2 for Microcomputer Systems Van
Nostrand Reinhold 1988
Cooper, Doug  Oh My! Modula-2! New York Norton 1990
Cornelius, Barry  Programming with TopSpeed Modula-2
Reading, MA Addison Wesley 1991
Eisenbach, Susan & Sadler, Cristopher  Program Design with
Modula-2 Reading, MA Addison-Wesley 1989
Elder, Jim   Compiler Construction: A Recursive Descent model
Hemel Hempstead England: Prentice-Hall 1994
Etling, Don  Modula-2 Programmer's Resource Book Blue Ridge
Summit, PA Tab Books 1988
Feldman, Michael B. Data Structures with Modula-2 Englewood
Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall 1988
Ford, Gary & Wiener, Richard. Modula-2: A Software
Development Approach New York Wiley 1985
Gabrini, Philippe J. & Kurtz, Barry L. Data Structures And
Algorithms With Modula-2 Lexington, MA DC Heath c1992
Gleaves, Richard  Modula-2 for Pascal Programmers New York
Springer-Verlag 1984
Gough, K. John & Mohay, George M. Modula-2: A Second Course
In Programming Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall 1988
Greenfield, Stuart B.  Invitation to Modula-2 Petrocelli Books 1985
Harrison, Rachael  Abstract Data Types in Modula-2 New York
Wiley 1989 Wiley
Harter, Edward D. Modula-2 Programming. A First Course
Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1990
Helman, Paul & Veroff, Robert  Walls and Mirrors:
Intermediate Problem Solving and Data. Modula-2 Menlo Park, CA
Benjamin Cummings 1988
Hewitt, Jill A. & Frak, Raymond J. Software Engineering in
Modula-2: an object-oriented approach London Macmillan 1989.
Hille, R.F. Data Abstraction and Program Development Using Modula-2
Sydney Prentice Hall 1989
Hopper, Keith. The Magic of Modula-2 Melbourne Prentice Hall 1991
Johnston, Chris  Applying Modula-2 Academic Press 1991
Jones, William C. Jr. Data Structures Using Modula-2 New
York Wiley 1988
Jones, William C. Jr. Modula-2 Problem Solving and
Programming with Style New York Harper & Row 1987
Joyce, Edward J. Modula-2: A Seafarer's Manual & Shipyard
Guide Reading, MA Addison-Wesley 1985
Kaplan, Ian & Miller, Mike  Modula-2 Programming Rochelle
Park, NJ Hayden Book Co. 1986
Kelly-Bootle, Stan  Modula-2 Primer Howard W. Sams & Co. 1987
King, K.N. Modula-2: A Complete Guide Lexington, MA D.C.
Heath & Co 1988
Knepley, Ed & Platt, Robert  Modula-2 Programming Reston, VA
Reston Pub. Co. 1985
Koffman, Elliot B. Problem Solving and Structured Programming
in Modula-2 Reading, MA Addison-Wesley 1988
Kruse, Robert L. Programming With Data Structures Modula-2
Version Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1988
Lawrence, Mike  Modula-2 And The Amiga Avant-Garde Software 1990?
Leestma, Sanford & Nyhoff, Larry  Programming &
Problem-Solving in Modula-2 New York Macmillan 1989
Lins, C. (Charles)  The Modula-2 Software Component Library
Volumes I-IV New York Springer-Verlag 1989-
Mayer, Herbert G. Programming in Modula-2. the Art & the
Craft New York Macmillan 1988
McCracken, Daniel D. & W. Salmon  A Second Course in Computer
Science with Modula-2 New York Wiley 1987
Messer, P. A. & I. Marshall  Modula-2 Constructive Program
Development Oxford Blackwell Scientific Publications 1986
Metrowerks, Inc. Staff  Metrowerks Modula-2 Start Pak New
York Macmillan 1990
Mitchell, R. J. Modula-2 Applied London Macmillan 1991
Mitchell, Richard  Abstract Data Types And Modula-2 A Worked
Example Of Design Using Data Abstraction Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Prentice Hall 1992
Moore, John B. & McKay, Kenneth N. Modula-2 Text and
Reference Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1987
Novak, M.M. Modula-2 in Science & Engineering London McGraw 1990
Nyhoff, Larry & Leestma ,Sanford  Data Structures & Advanced
Programming in Modula-2 New York Macmillan 1990
Ogilvie, John W. L. Modula-2 Programming New York McGraw-Hill 1985
Pinson, Lewis Sincovec, Richard & Weiner, Richard  A First
Course in Computer Science with Modula-2 New York Wiley 1987
Pittman, Thomas & Peters, James  The Art Of Compiler Design
Theory And Practice Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1992
Pomberger, Gustav. Software Engineering and Modula-2
Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice Hall 1984
Rechenberg, P. & Mössenböck, H. (tr. O'Meara, John)  A
Compiler Generator for Microcomputers Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice
Hall / Carl Hanser Verlag 1989
Riley, David D. Data Abstraction and Structures: An
Introduction To Computer Science II Boston Boyd & Fraser Pub. Co.
1987
Riley, David D. Using Modula-2: An Introduction To Computer
Science I Boston Boyd & Fraser Pub. Co. 1987
Sale, Arthur H. J. Modula-2: Discipline & Design Sydney
Addison-Wesley 1986
Sawyer, Brian & Foster, Dennis. Programming Expert Systems in
Modula-2 New York Wiley 1986
Schildt, Herbert  Advanced Modula-2 Berkeley, CA Osborne
McGraw-Hill 1987
Schildt, Herbert  Modula-2 Made Easy Berkeley, CA Osborne
McGraw-Hill 1986
Schiper, Andre; (tr. Howlett, Jack)  Concurrent programming:
Illustrated With Examples in Portal, Ada, and Modula-2 Halsted
Press 1989
Schnapp, Russell L. Macintosh Graphics in Modula-2 Englewood
Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1986
Sincovec, Richard F. & Richard S. Wiener. Data Structures
Using Modula-2 New York Wiley 1986
Sincovec, Richard F. & Wiener, Richard S. Modula-2 Software
Components New York Wiley 1987
Stubbs, Daniel F. & Webre, Neil W. Data Structures With
Abstract Data Types and Modula-2 Monterey, CA Brooks/Cole Pub. Co.
1987
Sutcliffe, Richard J. Introduction to Programming Using
Modula-2 Columbus, OH Merrill 1987
Sutcliffe, Richard J. mailto:***@arjay.ca. Modula-2:
Abstractions for Data and Programming Structures (Using ISO-Standard
Modula-2) Mt. Lehman: Arjay Enterprises 1996-2000.
http://www.arjay.bc.ca (1996 09 16)
Sutcliffe, Richard J. Standard Generic Modula-2 (Document
ISO/IEC/JTC1/SC22/WG13 D235) 1996 07 12
ftp://FTP.twu.ca/pub/modula2/WG13/ca101.GenericModula2CD(1996 09 16)
Sutherland, Robert J. The Professional Programmer's Guide to
Modula-2 London Pitman 1988
Terry, Patrick D. An Introduction To Programming with
Modula-2 Reading, MA Addison-Wesley 1987
Thalmann, Daniel  Modula-2: An Introduction New York
Springer-Verlag 1985
Tremblay, Jean-Paul DeDourek, John M. & Daoust, David A. 
Programming in Modula-2 New York McGraw-Hill 1989
Tucker, Allen B. Jr. Computer science: A Second Course Using
Modula-2 New York McGraw-Hill 1988
Ullmann, Jeffrey  Compiling in Modula-2 - A First
Introduction To Classical Recursive Descent Compiling Hemel
Hempstead England: Prentice-Hall 1994
Ural, Saim & Ural, Suzan  Introduction to Programming with
Modula-2 New York Harper & Row 1987
Walker, Billy K  Modula-2 Programming With Data Structures
Belmont, CA Wadsworth Pub. Co. 1986
Walker, Robert D. Modula-2 Library Modules: A Programmer's
Reference Blue Ridge Summit, PA Tab Books 1988
Ward, Terry A. Advanced Programming Techniques in Modula-2
Glenview, IL Scott Foresman 1987
Welsh, Jim & Elder, John  Introduction to Modula-2 Englewood
Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1987
Wiatrowski, Claude A. & Wiener, Richard S. From C to
Modula-2--and Back - Bridging The Language Gap New York Wiley
Wiener, Richard  Modula-2 Wizard's Programming Reference New
York Wiley 1986
Wiener, Richard & Ford, G. Modula-2 A Software Development
Approach New York Wiley 1985
Wiener, Richard & Sincovec, R. F. Software Engineering with
Modula-2 and Ada New York Wiley 1984
Willis, Claire & Paddon, Derek  Abstraction And Specification
With Modula-2 London Pitman 1992
Wirth, Niklaus  Programming in Modula-2 (3rd corrected ed.)
New York Springer-Verlag 1985
Wirth, Niklaus  Algorithms and Data Structures (1986 edition)
Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall 1986
Wirth, Niklaus  Programming in Modula-2 (4th ed.) New York
Springer-Verlag 1990
Woodman, Mark et al  Portable Modula-2 Programming
Maidenhead, Berkshire UK McGraw-Hill 1989

7. REVIEWS OF MODULA-2 PRODUCTS.

Note: The reviews have been contributed by others and I take no
responsibility for their accuracy or for any opinions expressed
therein. I have updated some of the facts.

p1 Modula-2 v5.2 for Macintosh Classic (pre- OS X), by Marc Martin,
Dec 1994.This is an excellent Modula-2 compiler, implemented as an
MPW Tool. Highlights include ISO language extensions & library, a
full set of Macintosh toolbox definitions, language extensions to
simplify toolbox programming, object-oriented extensions and support
for MacApp, greater than 32k code and globals, code generation
comparable to Apple's official compilers, several FPU code options,
multi-window debugger, linkable with other MPW languages, detailed
documentation, and superb technical support via e-mail. Downsides
include high cost (US$400), dependency on MPW, lack of SADE support.
Version 6.0 has been released for creating PowerPC programs under MPW
or CodeWarrier (The latter now defunct).

Appendix: AUTHOR INFORMATION AND DISCLAIMERS

Personal: I have used, written about, and taught Modula-2 (since
1983) and have maintained some of the information in this list for
many years. I have used at least a dozen different
compiler/environments in that time on five different platforms, and
have written numerous articles and reviews for publication. I have
been a member of the ISO committee WG13 (Modula-2 standardization)
since its inception and have participated in all the debates and
meetings of WG13 except for meeting #9 at Lake Wanaka, NZ. I have
written a text on Modula-2 (now shareware), made numerous submissions
to WG13 and directed an implementation of the ISO I/O library in
order to verify its concepts. I am the author and project editor of
Standard Generic Modula-2, and am involved in the effort to create
Objective Modula-2.

Disclaimers:
(i) I take no responsibility for anyone's use or misuse of this information.
(ii) Apart from having been a beta tester, textbook writer,
programmer and a long time user of Modula-2, I have no financial
connection with any manufacturer or distributor of software. I am the
author of some Modula-2 materials (some of which are shareware) as
noted herein, and of various other books. Some manufacturers may
distribute my shareware on CD-ROM for a previously arranged fee, but
that is not an endorsement of their products by me or of mine by them.
(iii) In producing this material, I am NOT acting in an official
capacity for TWU, WG13, ABC, IEEE, ACM, comp.lang.modula2, the GNU or
Objective Modula-2 efforts, or any other organization.
(iv) Mention of a book or product is NOT an endorsement unless
specifically noted.
(v) Inclusion of materials on this list is based on relevance to
Modula-2 and factual content and is otherwise entirely without
prejudice. I reserve the right to edit all submissions for brevity,
clarity, and usage.

To remain authoritative, this and all versions of this FAQ are
copyright 1991-2007 by Rick Sutcliffe and Arjay Enterprises. This
document may be freely copied and distributed provided it is not
altered and no fee is charged with the exception of normal
downloading or copying costs.

Compiled by:
Rick Sutcliffe (aka The Northern Spy)
Trinity Western University
7600 Glover Rd.,
Langley, B.C. Canada V2Y 1Y1
1 604 888-7511 Fax 1 604 513-2018

see my web pages at
Arjay Books
The Northern Spy
Arjay Web Services
opundo
Sheaves Christian Resources
mailto:rsutc-AT-arjay.ca
--
Rick Sutcliffe Professor Math/Cmpt Trinity Western University. Try
<http://www.arjay.bc.ca> for Christian SF, books on Modula-2 and
Ethics in Technology. Forum at <http://arjaybb.com>
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