ast@cs.vu.nl (Andrew S. Tanenbaum) (10/14/87)
The MINIX Version 1.2 C compiler is now available from the following two companies. Contact them for pricing and other information. UniPress Software Transmediair Utrecht BV 2025 Lincoln Highway Melkweg 3 Edison, NJ 08817 3721 RG Bilthoven USA Holland Tel: (201) 985-8000 Tel: +31 (30) 78 18 20 This compiler is better in at least three ways than the 1.1 compiler: 1. It produces better object code (fewer bytes and faster execution) 2. Compilation speed is improved 3. A number of bugs have been fixed It is my experience that on the whole, the object code size is smaller than the PC-IX compiler without the -O flag, and about 6% larger than the PC-IX compiler with the -O flag. I have not tested it on other compilers. That is left as an exercise for the reader. The difference between MINIX and PC-IX varies considerably from program to program. If anyone publishes measurements later, be sure to run tests on a large sample to get meaningful measurements. As with the Pascal compiler described in a companion posting, this compiler belongs to the Vrije Universiteit, which uses the royalties on sales to fund graduate student travel. Please do not further distribute the compiler. The various passes of the 1.2 compiler are not plug compatible with the 1.1 compiler. You have to use all of 1.1 or all of 1.2. Mix and match won't work. While on the subject of compilers, I should perhaps mention that we have a running Modula 2 compiler, and are working on porting it to MINIX. The VAX and SUN-3 versions are currently undergoing heavy testing. The Modula 2 compiler follows the same structure as C and Pascal, only with mem instead of cem or pem as the front end, and an additional library for the Modula specific routines. Andy Tanenbaum