[comp.sys.ibm.pc] Zortech C++

nadkarni@erlang.dec.com (Ashok P. Nadkarni DTN 226-7448) (05/26/88)

I received some info in the mail yesterday which I thought might be of 
interest to a lot of programmers out there. Note that all the info is
from the manufacturer's own flyers. Naturally, I have no connection with
Zortech at all.

Announcing a C++ compiler from Zortech Inc. (617-646-6703). 
List price (the best part) - $99, Fully conformant with Bjarne Stroustrup's
definition, ANSI C superset, true compiler (not just a preprocessor), includes
QuickC/TUrboC compatible libraries, library source for 400 functions, 
MS codeview compatible, generates MS compatible obj files, programming editor,
linker and librarian included, includes a global optimizer, 700+ pages docs.

Please don't treat this as an ad. As I said, I have no connection with them, 
and simply thought a lot of folks might be interested in this inexpensive
way of getting into object-oriented progamming.

Incidentally, I'd posted a request for info on this compiler a while ago.
The one reply I got was from the author of the compiler itself and stated
that Zortech C++ was derived from Datalight C.

/Ashok Nadkarni

jss@hector.UUCP (Jerry Schwarz) (05/27/88)

In article <8805261601.AA22106@decwrl.dec.com> nadkarni@erlang.dec.com.UUCP writes:
>I received some info in the mail yesterday which I thought might be of 
>
>Announcing a C++ compiler from Zortech Inc. (617-646-6703). 
>List price (the best part) - $99, Fully conformant with Bjarne Stroustrup's
				   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>definition, ANSI C superset, true compiler (not just a preprocessor), includes
 ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>QuickC/TUrboC compatible libraries, library source for 400 functions, 
>MS codeview compatible, generates MS compatible obj files, programming editor,
>linker and librarian included, includes a global optimizer, 700+ pages docs.
>

This is, of course, impossible since C++ as defined by Bjarne is not
an ANSI C superset, and cannot easily be made into a superset.
This has been discussed in comp.lang.c++ many times in the past, 
and probably will be again.  Briefly, the important problems are 
the separate namespace of tags and variables in ANSI and the
interpretation of a function declaration with an empty parameter list.

Jerry Schwarz

wnp@dcs.UUCP (Wolf N. Paul) (05/28/88)

In article <10333@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com> jss@hector (Jerry Schwarz) writes:
>In article <8805261601.AA22106@decwrl.dec.com> nadkarni@erlang.dec.com.UUCP writes:
>>Announcing a C++ compiler from Zortech Inc. (617-646-6703). 
>>List price (the best part) - $99, Fully conformant with Bjarne Stroustrup's
>				   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>definition, ANSI C superset, true compiler (not just a preprocessor), includes
> ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>This is, of course, impossible since C++ as defined by Bjarne is not
>an ANSI C superset, and cannot easily be made into a superset.
>This has been discussed in comp.lang.c++ many times in the past, 
>and probably will be again.  Briefly, the important problems are 
>the separate namespace of tags and variables in ANSI and the
>interpretation of a function declaration with an empty parameter list.

Yes, but couldn't the compiler support options or flags which determine
its behaviour? Couldn't there be two code generators part of the same
package, two sets of libraries, etc., all driven by the same control
program (cc, or in this case, ztc)?

In fact, since the Zortech compiler is indeed derived from the Datalight
C Compiler, which had been steadily moving into the direction of full ANSI
compatibility, this would be very simple to implement, and I believe,
is in fact the way it is done.

I know that Zortech's marketing philosophy is that noone using C++ will
ever want to use C again, but that's baloney, and I believe that their
compiler will in effect provide both a C compiler and a C++ compiler in
the same package.

BTW, I really **LOVE** postings which say that "OF COURSE, what someone
else just said is wrong".
-- 
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jss@hector.UUCP (Jerry Schwarz) (05/30/88)

In article <100@dcs.UUCP> wnp@dcs.UUCP (Wolf N. Paul) writes:
>In article <10333@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com> jss@hector (Jerry Schwarz) writes:
>>In article <8805261601.AA22106@decwrl.dec.com> nadkarni@erlang.dec.com.UUCP writes:
>>>Announcing a C++ compiler from Zortech Inc. (617-646-6703). 
>>>List price (the best part) - $99, Fully conformant with Bjarne Stroustrup's
>>				   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>>definition, ANSI C superset, true compiler (not just a preprocessor), includes
>> ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>>This is, of course, impossible since C++ as defined by Bjarne is not
>>an ANSI C superset, and cannot easily be made into a superset.
>>This has been discussed in comp.lang.c++ many times in the past, 
>>and probably will be again.  Briefly, the important problems are 
>>the separate namespace of tags and variables in ANSI and the
>>interpretation of a function declaration with an empty parameter list.
>
>Yes, but couldn't the compiler support options or flags which determine
>its behaviour? Couldn't there be two code generators part of the same
>package, two sets of libraries, etc., all driven by the same control
>program (cc, or in this case, ztc)?
>

If so I misread the original sentence. (But see below)  I took it to
mean that Zortech believed it had a language that was both C++ and
ANSI compatible. This is a very attractive idea and people who have
not looked at the technical issues often assume that it is easy to
achive.

The point is not whether you tell the compiler that it has a C or C++
program by the command name, by switches, by filename (or extensions)
or in some other fashion.  The point is that there are
incompatibilities and hence the compiler has to know if it is
compiling C or C++.

>BTW, I really **LOVE** postings which say that "OF COURSE, what someone
>else just said is wrong".

The point of the "of course" was that I thought the original poster
was copying from some Zortech literature rather than making comments
on the product, and that some readers (e.g. those who follow
net.lang.c) would understand the situation immediately  while others
(C programmers with just a casual interest in C++) might be mislead.

Jerry Schwarz
Bell Labs, Murray Hill

rfarris@pnet01.cts.com (Rick Farris) (06/03/88)

I finally decided to acquire Zortech C++ today (first project: rewrite Tetris)
and called Zortech.  THEY'RE NOT SHIPPING!  They say maybe the end of June.

In case you haven't been following this thread, Zortech C++ is a C++ 
*compiler* (not translator), supposedly fully compliant with the AT&T 
specification for -- $99, complete with Bjourne Stroustroup's (sp?) book.
I've heard that it's based on the Datalight C compiler, which has a 
reputation for generating excellant code.


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mrh@camcon.co.uk (Mark Hughes) (03/15/89)

Two questions:

1) Has anyone used the Zortech C (not C++) debugger with C++ on a reasonable
sized program linked from halfa dozen or so objects?

2) Are there any Zortech C++ experts out there?

(Zortech C++ is a pc based implementation).

I've been thrashing this compiler reasonably hard and having problems. First
I turned to CodeView (Microsoft debugger) and after failing to get that to
work, turned to Zortech's own C debugger which they thought may work a bit
better than CodeView. As a C debugger it is way ahead of CodeView (in my
opinion) but it won't even load my C++ programs!

I'd be grateful for info on anyone else's experiences in this area.
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