AIN14994@merrimack.edu (11/28/89)
I am looking for a flexible programming language that executes fast and
works well with graphics. I've heard that Modula-2, C, and Fortran are all
good computer languages for the Amiga. Does anyone have any suggestions or
comments as to what computer language I should buy?
Thanks,
Edward Greenwoodcg@ami-cg.UUCP (Chris Gray) (11/30/89)
In <13262@merrimack.edu> AIN14994@merrimack.edu (Edward Greenwood) asks: > I am looking for a flexible programming language that executes fast and >works well with graphics. I've heard that Modula-2, C, and Fortran are all >good computer languages for the Amiga. Does anyone have any suggestions or >comments as to what computer language I should buy? It's been a month or so since I posted anything, so this makes a good excuse! The answer of course is that you shouldn't BUY any compiler; you should just trot on down to your nearest Amiga user's group (or decent software store) and pick up copies of Fish Disks #76, 77 and 201. (Should be available for the cost of the disks + copying.) They will provide you with a full distribution of my Draco compiler/system for the Amiga. Code compiled with the compiler on Fish #201 will execute almost as fast (with 10% in most cases, I'd say) as that generated by any of the commercial compilers. The language also provides strong type checking, which can be an immense boon to someone just starting out with Amiga programming, something which C and Fortran don't do. All of the languages (except, likely, Fortran) provide essentially the same features, so graphics programming will be much the same in any of them. I've done a number of graphics programs in Draco, and I've seen others done by happy users elsewhere. Given the price, (free), its a good way to find out if your really do want to get into this Amiga programing stuff! P.S. There will be a third version of the compiler coming out in the future, as soon as I finish with Amiga Empire V2.0 . So far I've added global register variables (real useful for shared libraries) and data initializations like those in C. -- -- Chris Gray usenet: {uunet,alberta}!myrias!ami-cg!cg CIS: 74007,1165
donw@zehntel.zehntel.com (Don White) (12/07/89)
In article <0847.AA0847@ami-cg> cg@ami-cg.UUCP (Chris Gray) writes: >In <13262@merrimack.edu> AIN14994@merrimack.edu (Edward Greenwood) asks: > >> I am looking for a flexible programming language that executes fast and > >The answer of course is that you shouldn't BUY any compiler; you should just >trot on down to your nearest Amiga user's group (or decent software store) and >pick up copies of Fish Disks #76, 77 and 201. (Should be available for the >cost of the disks + copying.) They will provide you with a full distribution >of my Draco compiler/system for the Amiga. Code compiled with the compiler on >Given the price, (free), its a good way to find out if your really do want >to get into this Amiga programing stuff! With all due respect to Chris, if you want to program the amiga the easiest way to interface to all the special library stuff is through 'C'. This is the language that was used to write much of the Amiga OS. Specifically Lattice C. Lattice currently has a compiler which has a (semi)new thing called function proto-typing. This is superior to ANY other strong typing because it provides the resources to find out what type is REQUIRED in any given situation. Yet you still have the flexibility to tell the compiler if you really WANT to mismatch your types. Lattice has a symbolic debugger that is interactive.(i.e. it allows command-at-a-time execution.) Best of all, anything you see in the ROM kernal manuals CAN BE TYPED IN DIRECTLY. No translation is needed.('Course there are a few typos :-( ) If you are going to program for the Amiga, you MUST get the ROM KERNAL manuals! You really can't program anything more than text without them. Hope this helps... Don White Box 271177 Concord, CA. 94527-1177 zehntel!donw
hcobb@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Henry J. Cobb) (12/07/89)
In article <2615@zehntel.UUCP> donw@zehntel.UUCP (Don White) writes: > > With all due respect to Chris, if you want to program the amiga the > easiest way to interface to all the special library stuff is through 'C'. > > Don White > Box 271177 Concord, CA. 94527-1177 > zehntel!donw This used to be a problem with Draco, but mr Gray come through with a fix. See fdcompile on fish#254 under PatternLib. Now we have a program to automagickly write interface routines. Between semesters I'm going to try to use Arexx with Draco, to add array ops to Arexx. This way Arexx can be used to write useful programs, because a compiled language can provide the computational firepower to handle individual cases, while the script provides the overall logic. Henry J. Cobb hcobb@walt.cc.utexas.edu