2FKKAPSE@UKANVAX.BITNET (05/08/87)
Date: Thu, 7 May 87 19:11 CST From: <2FKKAPSE@UKANVAX.BITNET> Subject: Kayan Pascal To: info-atari8@score.stanford.edu X-Original-To: info-atari8@score.stanford.edu, 2FKKAPSE As a parting remark in his comments about ACTION!, Fred Sullivan asked how good Kayan Pascal is. I have been using Kayan now since before Christmas and it works fairly well. It is a full implementation of the ISO standard. Beware, however. Kayan Pascal produces HUGE code. Typical of most non-optimized code written by pascal compilers, the Kayan code appears upon disassembly to be filled wtih run-time error checking, which some consider a useless distraction. Needless to say, the finished product will be SLOW. Kayan's best feature is the ability to stick assembly routines directly in the code. This appears to be the best way around the run-time error checking. If you want optimal compiled code, stick with ACTION! (or assembly.) If you want the best (in my opinion) implementation of ISO pascal available for the 8-bits and are really not concerned wtih how big your object files get, Kayan is definitley worth it. One final comment: The combination of Kayan Pascal and a good code optimizer would make a terrific programming tool. Hint, hint: has anybody beaten me to it, or do I have to do all the work myself? --Jim Sisul The University of Kansas