breuel@h-sc1.UUCP (thomas breuel) (04/18/86)
I have been using an Amiga (512k, one external drive, Manx C) for a few weeks now, and I have a few questions, requests, gripes, and comments. Perhaps people at Commodore can help me with some of these? USER INTERFACE: -- a quick-grow/shrink gadget would be nice. Alternatively, there might be a way to reduce windows to icons on the desktop? -- it should be possible to pull down a screen even if a window covers the whole screen -- the send-behind gadget should not activate a window -- pop-up menus might be nicer than the menu bar, and they could perhaps replace the menu bar transparently to the software? -- the workbench should be able to run in 640x400 mode -- a 6x8 system font should give many more characters per line and should still be readable OPERATING SYSTEM: -- arbitrary processes must be killable. The operating system should keep track of all resources used by a process and deallocate them when the process dies. -- the disk driver/loader don't handle multiple loads from the same disk too well (much too much seeking). Cacheing or more intelligent seeks/loads are needed. -- the relationship between CLI, DOS, and the ROM Kernel are confusing. I haven't read the whole documentation yet, but I have little hope that it will reveal the whole and ugly truth. I can just add to those voices that request source for CLI (which may help at least a little). And I can just hope that the next release of the documentation is clearer and more structured. QUESTIONS: -- is there a BCPL compiler *available*? (yes, I'd like to *use* it) -- when will memory expansions and reasonably priced hard-disks be available? I apologise for the rather sundry collection of items, but your help and commentary is appreciated. I have been using Manx C for programming (UN*X style). I find it an excellent development system, infinitely superior to Lattice C (which I used only briefly, however). The compiler generates fast and compact code, and is largely compatible with Lattice (and the rest of the world). Some things about the system are particularly noteworthy: -- the compiler generates code either with 16 or 32 bit integers. You can also choose between small and large memory models for code and/or data. This makes it easy to port code to the Manx compiler, without sacrificing efficiency where needed. -- arithmetic expressions in '#if' directives don't seem to work -- Lattice allows structure assignment, Manx doesn't -- Lattice allows argument type declarations according to ANSI, Manx doesn't (in both points, I disagree with the philosophy of the authors of Lattice C. I do hope that people will not use these misfeatures of the Lattice C compiler. Since there are unfortunately always programmers who try to use every last obscure feature of a compiler, I also hope, however, that Manx C will incorporate these features in the next release). -- Manx 'make' is a true, UN*X like make with all bells and whistles like default and user-defined rules. -- Manx is working on a debugger. The pre-release is a little bit buggy but still very usable (if you are into debuggers. I rarely use them). Thomas.
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) (04/20/86)
If Manx doesn't impliment structure assignment, or other standard features, it's their own fault. Structure assignment is a standard. -Matt
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) (04/20/86)
I agree on every one of your points, except the one about the quick-grow/shrink gadget (it seems a bit superfluous). Also: >-- arbitrary processes must be killable. The operating system should > keep track of all resources used by a process and deallocate > them when the process dies. This has been discussed on the net. It just isn't possible as the OS doesn't keep track of a processes resources. You can still RemTask() it if you want, but no results are guarenteed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- And in balmy Berkeley, after days of gray skies (but impressive), the sun has finally broken out..... blue skies, temperatures in the 80's+. This isn't without it's faults though, as we just had to shut down ucbugs for the third day in a row due to machine room temperatures of 95 degrees (our single overworked air-conditioner couldn't keep up). -sic- -Matt