markmc@ncrcae.UUCP (Mark McCulley) (12/12/84)
I am planning to be a new MAC owner very soon. In the
meantime I have some questions that some of the more experienced
users on the net may be able to help out with.
I want to write some applications that use the graphics
capabilities and user interface that is embedded in the ROM.
Do any of the available C or PASCAL compilers allow access to
these routines? Any comments from anyone that has tried to
do something similar? How much help is the 'Inside Mac' package
that Apple sells for $100? How much real development can be done
for the MAC without a LISA?
Thanks,
Mark ...decvax!mcnc!ncsu!ncrcae!markmcchuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuqui[The Time Traveller]) (12/14/84)
> I want to write some applications that use the graphics >capabilities and user interface that is embedded in the ROM. >Do any of the available C or PASCAL compilers allow access to >these routines? Any comments from anyone that has tried to >do something similar? How much help is the 'Inside Mac' package >that Apple sells for $100? How much real development can be done >for the MAC without a LISA? Well, I just got a copy of Inside Mac. It is CRITICAL to have if you want to play with the guts. From what I can tell, it is also VERY complete, and well done. I also just got the Mac C compiler from Consulair, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. It will interface completely with the material in Inside Mac and has interface libraries written for most (or all) of it. It looks quite complete (it doesn't support floating point yet, but from indications in the manual it will later). The documentation is wonderful, down to assembly language documentation of the code generated by C statements (yippee! I wish more compiler writers understood this). The licensing agreement is a wonder-- the people who wrote it understand reality. The disk is copy protected, but the consulair people will ship you a set of unprotected disks if you sent them $25 for handling and a signed agreement that you will abide by the licensing agreement (one machine, don't pass it around to your friends). This seems like a wonderful tradeoff-- a passive licensing agreement with copy protection, but an active licensing agreement for those that want the alternatives. People will take advantage of this, I'm sure, but they certainly won't be able to claim ignorance if they get caught. And the WARRANTY! Consulair actually warrrants that their compiler will compile code in some reasonable facsimile to what their manual says it will, or they will fix it (if you find a reproducable bug in the first 60 days or so). In a day when most warranties don't even admit that their software will boot, this is the kind of person that needs to be supported. Mac C is a must for serious hackers who want to get their hands dirty. chuq -- From behind the bar at Callahan's: Chuq Von Rospach {allegra,cbosgd,decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA The evil that men do lives after them; the good it oft interred with their bones. So let it be with Caesar. The noble Brutus hath told you Caesar was ambitious... And Brutus is an honorable man