XPost: alt.comp.borland-delphi, alt.comp.lang.pascal   
   From: IntoTheFuture@hotmail.com   
      
   Hello,   
      
   In free pascal/pascal/delphi it's necessary to declare a pointer to a   
   record, which is to be used inside the record to point to itself, before the   
   record itself without a type directive in between them for example:   
      
   // correct:   
   type   
       PMyRecord = ^TMyRecord;   
       TMyRecord = record   
           mSelf : PMyRecord;   
           mNext : PMyRecord;   
       end;   
      
   // incorrect/not allowed:   
   type   
       PMyRecord = ^TMyRecord; // above type anywhere else.   
      
   type   
       TMyRecord = record   
           mSelf : PMyRecord;   
           mNext : PMyRecord;   
           mPrev : ^TMyRecord; // not allowed.   
       end;   
      
       PMyRecord = ^TMyRecord; // below anywhere else   
      
   // and so forth...   
      
   I would first like to remark about this: "This is very newb unfriendly...   
   newbs might not know this... and will get frustrated by this   
   weird/odd/non-intuitive language construction".   
      
   Now some question about this:   
      
   1. Is there a compiler-related technical reason why it has to be like this ?   
   If so explain shortly...   
      
   2. Is there perhaps a technical solution for it so this is no longer   
   required ? If so how much effort would a solution cost ?   
      
   3. (Does free pascal still follow these restrictions ? I guess so... )   
      
   Final question assuming it's solvable::   
      
   4. Do you think it's worth to solve this oddity and make the language more   
   newb friendly and more intuitive ?   
      
   5. Would it break anything ? (I think not... it would be an   
   extension/relaxation of the language...)   
      
   Bye,   
     Skybuck.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)