richw@rosevax.Rosemount.COM (Rich Wagenknecht) (12/09/87)
Well MSC 5.0 has finally arrived. Now that I've it installed and running
I thought I'd share my impressions/gripes.
1) QuickC. It looks like a good enviroment for prototyping small modules
or for learning the ins and outs of MSC'c new library functions. I
don't think I'd use it for any large projects however, I believe it
would be a good enviroment for an inexperienced or new user. I also don't
understand why MS felt it had to make the editing keys (cut,paste etc.)
different from QuickBASIC 3.0. Or have they now changed the QB 4.0
enviroment? Anyways, I used QC for a while but ended up going back
to my favorite editor ('SEE' which comes with the DeSmet C package)
and using MAKE to generate my executables.
2) Installation. The installation went without a hitch. The installation
program ran very well and is a big improvement from the install it
yourself instructions in MSC 4.0.
3) Libraries. You can install 3 different math libraries. One supports
the 8087, another emulates the 8087 and the third has nothing to
do with the 8087. I choose the latter because I did not want to waste
the time or space emulating a 8087. The installation program built the
correct library using the math option I chose but, QuickC was not able
to recognize or use this library. I ended up rebuilding the library
with the 8087 emulator using the LIBBUILD program provided. LIBBUILD
is an excellent time saver and greatly appreciated (Thankyou MS).
The graphics library seems to be quick and contains a reasonable
number of functions. MS has also added a host of C functions which
call DOS and BIOS routines (findfirst, findnext etc.).
4) Documentation. There doesn't seem to be a great deal different from
MSC 4.0. The QuickC documentation looks like a good package for the
beginner/novice. MSC5.0 also comes with a much improved quick-reference
guide which I like very much.
5) Codeview. You no longer have to go through menu selections in order
to add/delete watch variables ( a minor but very useful feature).
Overall, MSC5.0 seems like a good package.
Rich W.