jww@sdcsvax.UUCP (Joel West) (01/19/86)
I did a fairly thorough survey of the state-of-the-art in development
languages (please don't flame at me for excluding Forth, Logo, Fortran,
MS-Basic, etc.)
I did not follow up at Borland....If anyone did get specific info
(the obvious exploitation of T&A and heavy use of Neon at their booth
turned me off), let me know.
PASCAL------------------------------------------------------------------
TML Pascal
As you all know by now, TML Systems of Melbourne, FL has a native
Pascal compiler at $100. It is largely Lisa compatible (they include
modified versions of the Software Supplement examples with their
system). It has a few limitations:
1. No "units"; "includes" instead. For your code, each unit
is recompiled each time. For system glue and routines,
only the interface declarations are recompiled.
2. Sets limited to 32 elements
3. Uses crummy MDS tools: Edit, Linker, Rmaker.
4. Sizeof(INT) not allowed but "X: integer...sizeof(X)" is
Compiler will produce:
Object
Assembly code (you can feed to MDS assembler if you have it)
Nothing (for syntax checking only)
Supports segments
Release 1.0 is November 1985 (I bought one, haven't looked at it).
The documentation looks fairly complete, and addresses the Lisa vs.
TML well. 1.1 is Real Soon Now, upgrade for a materials cost.
It was darkly rumored that Release 2.0 will, as they say, "blow
your socks off". New editor, new linker. Major enhancements.
Will probably be priced more than 1.0. ($200?) Upgrade policy
for existing undecided. Supposedly within two months. (President
Tom Leonard is a full-time compiler hacker, and some of this
is coming from external sources.)
TML Systems POB 361626, Melbourne FL 32936 305 242-1873
Step Lively
"On Stage Pascal Developer's System" at $400.
Claims to be:
Lisa Pascal compatible
In-line assembler
QUED programmer's editor
Units
Smark linker (Megamax's, allows linking to Mexamax C)
Resource compiler, editor
MacsBug debugger
Floating point
Conditional compilation
Support: Compuserver, MCI mail, telephone
They had advertised a lower-priced system, but abandoned that market
to TML.
Only one problem. This is vaporware.
Beta is "one month away" at a reduced price. President refused to
say when the final version would be--from my experience, that implies
at least 6 months.
Step Lively Software, 622 Watervliet-Shaker Rd., Latham, NY 12110
518 785-7214
Apple
Apple announced plans to release their Mac-based development systems
at a meeting with developers. The claim is 9/86, although some
think this means 12/86. I believe this is the integrated system(s)
announced a year ago, but as Apple was not at the MWE for this, I
don't know much more.
Rascal
Some of you on the net have been beta-testing Rascal, from the notorious
Reed. Scott Gillespie was at the booth, and showed me a very nice
laser-written manual--the main hang-up on distributing the final
release. Rascal has some very nice turnkey libraries for intermediate-
level programmers:
Menus, windows
Sound
Fast FFT
Laserwriter
Printing
A good assortment of demos:
Sound, terminal i/o, Appletalk
And a reasonable development environment.
Also, these guys clearly understand the Mac and since this has been in
the works for almost 2 years, it's clearly not a new, buggy hack job.
However,
Rascal is NOT Pascal. It is Pascal-like, C-like where it's
not Pascal, and one or two unique (bizarre) extensions
Segmentation is not supported.
$129. (They are selling the pre-release).
Metresearch, 1100 SE Woodward Portland, OR 97202 503 232-1712
Borland
Turbo is listed as "coming", but I forgot to get more info.
Modula-2 is promised for the IBM, but not the Mac
C--------------------------------------------------------------------
Manx Aztec C
They were handing out the Byte benchmark (11/85) proudly. They
have two serious systems:
Commercial 499
Developer 299
but apparently give lower prices for small developers (cash up front?)
Their system has a fairly good UNIX-like shell development environment;
I coulda sworn I saw a process number print out.
The president tried to convince me he has 70% market share, and that
his system was by far and away preferred by big developers (names
escape me now) Who knows? He also said he has a staff of 25
full-time people, supporting Mac, IBM, Apple // and CP-M versions.
A lint is on the IBM and about "two months" away for the Mac. A
source language debugger is about 5 months away.
As far as I can tell, Manx uses glue, but doesn't convert the
C strings for you, with some support for Pascal strings.
Manx Aztec C
1 800 221-0440 (201 530 7997 for those unfortunate to be in NJ :-)
Box 55 Shrewsbury, NJ 07701
Consulair Mac C
They were swearing at the same Byte benchmark, claiming foul, blaming
the messenger, etc, etc. As a former journalist, I say "Sour grapes."
Consulair has a newer version than that reviewed. They generate
direct in-line traps, and support Pascal strings. The package
includes MDS.
No debugger improvements imminent--use MacDB or TMON.
Megamax C
C Ware DeSmet C
Hippo
Were not at the show. From my own guesses, the first two are probably
staying in the game. Hippo seems to be advertising something other than
C.
Softworks
Is pushing Basic (see below). Admits that it can't compete in the
C world, although it was selling it for $129.
Apple
Nothing for many months, although everyone tells me the "Green Hills C"
compiler they have rights to is well worth waiting for.
BASIC----------------------------------------------------------------
Softworks
Has a compiled BASIC. Not compatible with Microsoft extensions
for Mac MS-Basic, such as MENU and WINDOW.
Supports direct in-line trap calls.
Toolbox SetFont,fontno
Allows you to build data structures, with MAP statement.
The claim is that it's best for businessmen who are intimidated by C
or Pascal. A port of their Alpha Micro version.
Two versions:
$99 personal
$295 business basic, includes ISAM file interface
They were also running Softworks Basic demos on the Amiga and Atari ST.
"Programs written in one environment will execute on another with a
minimum of conversion."
2944 N. Broadway, Chicago IL 60657 312 975-4030
Joel West CACI, Inc. - Federal (c/o UC San Diego)
{ucbvax,decvax,ihnp4}!sdcsvax!jww
jww@SDCSVAX.ARPAsjl@amdahl.UUCP (Steve Langdon) (01/20/86)
In article <1325@sdcsvax.UUCP> jww@sdcsvax.UUCP (Joel West) writes: > Consulair Mac C > They were swearing at the same Byte benchmark, claiming foul, blaming > the messenger, etc, etc. As a former journalist, I say "Sour grapes." > > Consulair has a newer version than that reviewed. They generate > direct in-line traps, and support Pascal strings. The package > includes MDS. > > No debugger improvements imminent--use MacDB or TMON. > This is a very superficial review of the Consulair offerings. First, the Byte benchmark was poor. Consulair was shipping Mac C 2.x with floating point and better performance than 1.x in March - months before the November issue deadline. A little effort by the author could have resulted in a much more useful comparison. Second, Consulair has developed special versions of Mac C to support some of the new Mac add ons, specifically the GCC Hyperdrive 2000, the Levco 68020/68881 combo, and the Quesse floating point board. I still recommend Mac C, but as always any buyer should investigate the alternatives closely. -- Stephen J. Langdon ...!{ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!sjl [ The article above is not an official statement from any organization in the known universe. ]