jcz@ncsu.UUCP (Carl Zeigler) (08/08/85)
This message is a followup to Richard Stevens, Peter DeSilva, and Eric Browns' postings on the SAS C compiler. ( article nos. 243@hsi.uucp, 252@kitty.UUCP, and 3432@utah-cs.UUCP ) First a brief intro: I work for SAS on the IBM-PC product. While I do not work on the 370 Compiler per se, I have followed its development very closely. It is derived from the Lattice compiler under an agreement with Lattice. We also have a cross-compiler and linker under a similar arrangement. What follows was written by the manager of the 370 C complier project. ------------ The major point is that the 370 C Compiler is not the same as the Lattice PC compiler. Many PC limitations have been removed and many features added for the 370. 1. 3 minor fixes: Macro definitions and invocations can be spread over mutiple source lines. Unsigned char and unsigned long are implemented. The default is non-nesting comments. 2. We are aware of the printf and scanf limitations. We plan to enhance these functions as a high priority if Lattice dosen't do it first. 3. We will do a DOS/VSE version when there is some evidence of demand for one. More likely to be useful is a DOS/VSE runtime library ( so you can compile on OS or CMS and ship the object to a DOS/VSE site) and we will be doing that later this year. 4. Whitesmiths may well be "thinking about CICS". So are we, and we will do a CICS runtime library later this year or early next. In the meantime our general operating system interface, something no other 370 compiler provides, will allow the user to write a small number of CICS routines that the library will call to do all the operating system related functions ( get memory, etc ) for execution under CICS. Also worth pointing out is that we originally planned to use Whitesmiths on the 370 to develop our own products. We installed it, it was inadequate for our needs so we decided to produce our own. Thus was born the Lattice deal. And finally, how much 370 expertise does Whitesmith's have? Do they have it in house at all ? [ jcz - Actually they contracted the porting out to another firm. ] Contrast this with over 10,000 of our products installed on IBM mainframes, a support organization, etc. --------- Some comments of my own: There are some features that weren't mentioned above such as non-constant external variables and re-entrant code ( guess how ). A complete UNIX I/O model that allows the development of interfaces to any access method transparent to the application. We translate floating constants to their internal form with four bits more precision than Whitesmiths. ( Our product viability is VERY dependent on acurrate math. ) As far as support goes, we have perhaps the best documentation and support facilities of anyone in the software industry, let alone other 370 C compiler vendors. ( ahem, I will try to stay calm.) The population of our installed product base was mentioned above, it translates to 350 man years of experience. We also have about 80 man years experience in C and UNIX in house. Baiscally, one should not review a book one has not read. John Carl Zeigler SAS Institutte Inc. ...!mcnc!ncsu!jcz Cary, NC 27511 ( 919 ) 476 - 5322