1.2 Why Pascal?

Yes, this project is written in Pascal and can be compiled using the Free Pascal compiler. Pascal is highly suited to this project as it is a compiled language (so it is fast). Speed (run-time) matters as a single simulation can take anything from less than a second to several minutes or hours and a typical research project requires many such simulations. An interpreted language will result in longer run-times.

Pascal offers excellent readability: it is well-structured and most Pascal words are based on the English language. This matters, especially for an open-source project, as transparency is virtually meaningless if the code is hard to understand. Additionally, Pascal has a high degree of type safety and has a very strict syntax.