sinclair@aero.ARPA (William S. Sinclair ) (08/09/85)
When I bought my 520ST, the dealer mentioned the avilability of the C
compiler from Haba Systems in Van Nuys, CA. I had a couple of tech questions,
so I called them. Apparently the tech support is up in Sunnyvale, (408)731-1200.Hippopotamus software did the compiler, as an offshoot of their C compiler for
the Macintosh. I finally got through to some nameless person. He said that
version 1.2 has not been shipped yet, but did answer a couple of questions.
Apparently the compiler package does not include a debugger, or any kind of
bounds checking. The compiler runs in supervisor mode, but nobody seems to
know if the generated application program does or not. This is important;
how would you stop your undebugged program from crashing the system, or find
out where the offending line of code was?
I also was curious as to how you might write interrupt-driven code and connect
it to the interrupt vectors. Can the C compiler generate re-entrant code for interrupt service routines? Nobody around there could tell me. I got the impression
that their tech support on this product is going to be minimal. The low price
does not make up for the trouble you can get into by not being able to get
answers when you need them. Perhaps a more expensive product with better tech
support and debugging aids would be a better choice.
Bill Sinclair
213/647-1753