kalsow@jumbo.dec.com (Bill Kalsow) (03/08/90)
SRC Modula-3 ------------ A new release, version 1.4, of the SRC Modula-3 compiler and runtime are available now. This is the second public release of SRC Modula-3. The system was developed at the DEC Systems Research Center. It is being distributed in source form (mostly Modula-3) and is available for public ftp. You must have a C compiler to build and install the system. The primary changes since version 1.2 are: - many bugs are fixed - interfaces to the X libraries were added - the export restrictions are removed from the license - the system was ported to a SPARCstation - debugging is simpler SRC Modula-3 is available without signing any license agreements. If you chose to sign the commercial license, you will be able to use SRC Modula-3 commercially. Modula-3 is a new language. The goals of its design are best encapsulated in the preface to the Modula-3 Report [1]: The goal of Modula-3 is to be as simple and safe as it can be while meeting the needs of modern systems programmers. Instead of exploring new features, we studied the features of the Modula family of languages that have proven themselves in practice and tried to simplify them into a harmonious language. We found that most of the successful features were aimed at one of two main goals: greater robustness, and a simpler, more systematic type system. Modula-3 descends from Mesa, Modula-2, Cedar, and Modula-2+. It also resembles its cousins Object Pascal, Oberon, and Euclid. Modula-3 retains one of Modula-2's most successful features, the provision for explicit interfaces between modules. It adds objects and classes, exception handling, garbage collection, lightweight processes (or threads), and the isolation of unsafe features. SRC Modula-3 includes a user manual, compiler, runtime library, core library, pretty-printer, and a few other goodies. The libraries include interfaces for X11R4, I/O streams, string functions, access to command line arguments, random numbers, and operating system access. The compiler generates C as an intermediate language and should be fairly easy to port. Except for the garbage collector and the very lowest levels of the thread implementation, the entire system is written in Modula-3. The system is known to run on VAX's and DECstation 3100's running Ultrix 3.1 and on SPARCstations running SunOS 4.0.3. The system is available for anonymous ftp from 'gatekeeper.dec.com' [16.1.0.2]. The SRC Modula-3 files are in '/pub/DEC/Modula-3'. Those files include: m3-1.4.tar.Z - the system Report{1,2,3}.ps - the revised language report Release-1.4.ps - the user manual (PostScript) The compressed tar files are about 4.5Mbytes after compression. The entire system requires about 45Mbytes of disk space to build and install. We are maintaining a mailing list of those interesting in SRC Modula-3. The list is 'm3@src.dec.com'. To be added to the list send a message to 'm3-request@src.dec.com'. We may also be reached at: Systems Research Center 130 Lytton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Enjoy, Bill Kalsow and Eric Muller References ---------- [1] The Modula-3 Report (Revised), L. Cardelli, J. Dohnaue, L. Glassman, M. Jordan, B. Kalsow, G. Nelson, DEC Systems Research Center, Palo Alto, CA and Olivetti Research Center, Menlo Park, CA, Nov 89. DEC, VAX, DECstation and Ultrix are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. PostScript is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated. SPARCstation and SunOS are probably trademarks of Sun Microsystems Inc.