Is GPC dead?

[Schneider]

John:

> So we have yet to find anyone who is currently working on GPC, which
> brings the original question back to the foreground. Is GPC dead? If
> so, shall we revive it or would it be better to implement Extended
> Pascal in Free Pascal? If it is ongoing or deemed to be worth reviving,
> what can we non-developers do to help (leaving open the possibility
> that some of us may need to become developers)?

I'm strongly in favor of reviving it.  Having several compilers allows
one to bypass problems with one of them and to find bugs.  I have a
set of Pascal programs for DNA sequence analysis and soon I'm going to
release previously patent-protected code.  This code will be useful to
many molecular biologists around the world.  They already use sequence
logos:

https://alum.mit.edu/www/toms/glossary.html#sequence_logo

Those show average patterns in DNA (by stacks of letters).  The method
is used all around the world now.

The soon to be released code is for sequence walkers:

https://alum.mit.edu/www/toms/glossary.html#sequence_walker

Here's a pretty picture of what they can do to show patterns in DNA:

https://schneider.ncifcrf.gov/ftp/fispromoterArt.jpg

So if people are to take advantage of these tools, having several
healthy Pascal compilers is important.

Tom

  Thomas D. Schneider, Ph.D.
  Senior Investigator
  National Institutes of Health
  National Cancer Institute
  Center for Cancer Research
  RNA Biology Laboratory
  Molecular Information Theory Group
  Frederick, Maryland  21702-1201
  schneidt at mail.nih.gov
  https://schneider.ncifcrf.gov (current link)
  https://alum.mit.edu/www/toms (permanent link)