Pascal compiler for 8051 available for free
Colin Holland
8/24/2010 9:28 AM EDT
A updated version of the Turbo51 free Pascal compiler for 8051 is available for download.
Development of Turbo51 started in 2000 when Igor Funa found that there was no good Pascal compiler for the 8051 family of microcontrollers and decided to write his own. Since he had a lot of experience with the Borland Turbo Pascal he decided to create a Pascal compiler for 8051 that will be fast as Turbo Pascal, will have the same syntax and will generate high quality optimized code.
By 2005 the Turbo51 was stable and reliable enough to be used for a real project. Since then he has used it for every project involving 8051 derivative MCUs. In 2008 he decided to release it as freeware.
Turbo51 can be used for commercial products but Funa accepts donations which besides being an incredible boost to his morale, they are also a great incentive to fix any bug you find in the software and to add new features.
Documentation is available on Turbo51 syntax, compiler switches and directives, features, internals and other useful information. There are also some code examples (pascal source code and Turbo51 generated files) from which you can get an impression on how to write programs with Turbo51.
If you are already familiar with 8051 assembly language programming you can start with Turbo51 as 8051 assembly language compiler and then add some Pascal statements step by step until you become familiar with Turbo51 and Pascal syntax. A good approach is also to compile some Pascal code and then check generated code (ASM file). This way you can learn assembly language, get some ideas on how to write effective code and become familiar with the compiler.
For more information and to download the complier visit the Turbo51 website.
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