braner@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (braner) (12/04/87)
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Just got issue no. 2 of "printf", the Megamax Newsletter,
announcing their "lastest" (sic) product.
Here are the news in brief, and then a few inquiries.
Megamax C version 2.0 (now called Laser C) will be available soon.
If you have Megamax 1.1 you can send your original disks + $20 (a
check made to Megamax), and they will send you the new version
(including the brand new manual) as soon as it is ready.
The changes in new version include:
Better graphical shell, including a "STDIO" window for command-line
die-hards (like me :-) and a "FILER" tool that is friendlier than
the desktop for file copy/rename/delete etc.
A RAM cache that automatically uses the part of RAM that is not
used by the running programs.
A MAKE facility.
No more 32K limits on code segments or extern vars.
(Absolute referencing - bigger, slower code?)
(And what about local vars larger than 32K?)
DRI compatible linker, and faster than the old one.
Some sort of debugging monitor.
Faster and more accurate (read: less buggy) floating point.
My comments:
Can one now adjust the stack size an application gets without
recompiling the startup.c (and rearchiving syslib)?
(I redid the old startup code so that I can now do:
"long _stacklen = 123456; main(){...}" )
I have had the opportunity to try out the new FP package.
It is very fast (faster than Absoft FORTRAN).
But did they improve the calling procedures? I.e., is the
C statement "a=b+c; (all doubles) translated to a simple
"jsr _fpadd", or is it still routed through a big jump-table
lookup scheme? With the faster FP package, this can introduce
almost a factor-of-2 slow-down!
If, when debugging a program, the thing locks up and a RESET
is necessary: does the RAMcache (and the latest version of the
source code, if compiled-and-run from the editor, as is now
possible) get lost? Since I don't have a hard disk, maybe I'll
stick with the trusty RESET-proof RAMdisk.
Disclaimer:
I am not affiliated with Megamax.
- Moshe Branerkoreth@ssyx.UUCP (12/05/87)
In article <3085@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> braner@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu (braner) writes: > >Megamax C version 2.0 (now called Laser C) will be available soon. >If you have Megamax 1.1 you can send your original disks + $20 (a >check made to Megamax), and they will send you the new version >(including the brand new manual) as soon as it is ready. > (a description of Laser C followed, along with a few questions) I have it from a reliable source that Laser C is not very close to being released, and won't be shipping until February or so. Still, I've sent in my disks as it sounds like it'll finally be a nice development environment for the ST once it does come out. I would imagine that the editor actually saves the file you're editing then runs the compiler on it -- that is, it LOOKS like it's compiling directly from the edit buffer, but it isn't really. That might mean that code gets saved when it crashes and you have to reboot. Also, if the new compiler produces DRI-compatible object code, no jump tables should be produced, so you needn't worry about doubly indirect calls to the floating point routines. +New! Improved! Now 100% Artificial-+-+-----------------------------------+ |# # @@@ **** &&&&& $$$$$ % %| |Steven Grimm | |# # @ @ * * & $ % %+-+ ARPA: koreth@ucscb.ucsc.edu | |### @ @ **** &&&& $ %%%%%| | UUCP: ...!ucbvax!ucscc!ssyx!koreth| |# # @ @ * * & $ % %+-+ ______________________________| |# # @@@ * ** &&&&& $ % %| | |"Let's see what's out there."| +-----with NutraSour(TM)! No natural colors or preservatives!------------+