Little.Fleas%hi-multics@sri-unix.UUCP (07/27/83)
From: Gary Little <Little.Fleas@hi-multics>
Obviously, Dennis you would not like FORTH, which does precisely what
you have just described -- although it only returns to its command line
processor, leaving an incomplete "program" of words in memory. I don't
think that this really makes the compiler "PERFECTLY worthless" (how can
something perfect be worthless).
What you got was a $30 compiler: Take a stream of Pascal Source
statements, convert it to native code (??) and put in hooks to the
runtime module. If something is wrong, stop and report the most likely
error. For 30 bucks you are not going to get a nice system with
includes, debuggers, interactive editors, and all the other LITTLE
things that tick you off when you have them and they get in the way or
they don't work the way you think they should, but think you can't live
without when you don't.
Personally, I look pretty closely at the vendor and the product that I
am buying before I lay out the bucks. Some people may snicker, but I
do not expect to pay less than about $250 nor more than $500 for any
compiler/assembler -- and that includes a maintenance agreement with
periodic upgrade. My C compiler from INTROL Inc. ran $475 with
maintenance, and it has been one of the best products that I have in my
library. It seems that the less the product cost, the more problems I
have had with it (ever copied software out of a magazine such as BYTE
only to find that it is riddled with bugs).
In short, all I have seen so far is complaints that really say "Gee, I
wish I had saved my bucks and bought a better product"! Maybe somebody
needs to sit down and say that for this price level, here is what your
compilor should have.
Gary