kalsow@jumbo.dec.com (Bill Kalsow) (12/27/89)
SRC Modula-3
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Version 1.2 of the SRC Modula-3 compiler and runtime are available now.
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.
SRC Modula-3 is available without signing any license agreements. If you
chose to sign the optional agreement, you will be able to use SRC Modula-3
commercially and distribute it among your friends.
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 I/O streams, text string functions, access to command line
arguments, and operating system access.
The compiler generates C as an intermediate langauge 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.
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:
Report.ps - the revised language report
VAX-1.2.tar.Z - the VAX system
DS3100-1.2.tar.Z - the DECstation 3100 system
Release-1.2.ps - the user manual (PostScript)
The tar files are about 3Mbytes after compression. The entire
system requires about 25Mbytes 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
Merry Christmas,
Bill Kalsow and Eric Muller
References
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[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.