khl@usl (Calvin K. H. Leung) (09/21/87)
Anyone has experience with the MIX C Compiler? I'd like to have
some comments on its performance, portability, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Calvin Kee-Hong Leung
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Calvin Kee-Hong Leung
University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana
khl@usl.usl.edu.csnethollen@mana.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck) (09/25/87)
In article <171@usl> khl@usl.usl.edu.UUCP (Calvin K. H. Leung) writes: >Anyone has experience with the MIX C Compiler? I'd like to have >some comments on its performance, portability, etc. > This was the first C compiler I bought. It is an excellent development environment including the best debugger around (blows the doors off CODEVIEW and I LIKE CODEVIEW!) It supports mixed programming in ASM with some nifty macros and a detailed explanation. Their support is great and they have an extensive library of PC functions. They have utilities to optimize either for speed or size and they really work well. HERE'S THE BAD NEWS!!! The compiler does not generate .OBJ files, it creates .MIX files. You must convert your assembly .OBJ files to .MIX but they provide a utility. What is inside a .COM file is a pcode interpreter and pcode which is interpreted at runtime. If all you want to do is write tiny model programs (all code and data in one 64k segment) and link to your own assembly routines, by all means, this is the finest deal in a C compiler around (and I paid $89 for the package, not the $39 as of now). I heartily recommend it for learning C since the debugger alone is worth twice the price. (only it's not compatible with anything else and won't debug down into assembly - use DEBUG). I have no connection with MIX software other than being a satisfied customer. I now use MSC 4.0 and am getting MSC 5.0. Am avoiding TURBO C because of no debugger available. Dion Hollenbeck (619) 455-5590 x2814 Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121 { sdcsvax!sdcc6 | hp-sdd | seismo!s3sun } !megatek!hollen
scott@hpcvcg.HP (Scott Linn) (09/25/87)
I bought MIX C about a year ago, and use it occasionally. The price was certainly right (and at $19.95 now, even better!). I found a few bugs, but they were minor. The book is very good, and I would recommend a purchase just for this. I recommend putting index tabs in the book, though: it is difficult to find things quickly. The executable code is slow (on a HP110 portable computer, the Datalight optimizing C compiler runs ~750 Drhystones; the MIX C compiler with speed optimization runs ~32!). I haven't noticed speed differences of this magnitude in my programs, however. The sieve runs about half as fast than the Datalight sieve. Scott Linn HP - Northwest IC Division