[comp.sys.amiga.tech] Switch to Lattice 5.x?

carlos@io.UUCP (Carlos Smith x4433) (02/04/89)

I have heard lots of wonderful things about Lattice's latest release. Manx
has not had an update in a year, in spite of bugs (in fact, I just found a
new one in the inline 68881 support).

I need the maximum speed possible for the project I am working on. Are
Lattice's claims of dramtically higher performance true? It would be worth
it to switch if it is indeed 50% faster than Manx on compute intensive code.

So, has anyone out there switched and ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED a dramatic
improvement in the performance of their code? Do you find that compile time
compares favorable with Manx? Does the floating point support seem robust?
Anyone using the in-line floating point support? And, is the compiler stable,
that is, pretty bug-free. I have heard the support is good, but I would prefer
to not have to use it! If you did switch from Manx, were there any problems?
What were the main incompatibilities?

Also, I have heard very little about their debugger (CodeProbe?). Any 
comments on its interface? How well does it work with code that opens it's
own screens, etc. I am also very interested in direct comparisons between
it and SDB by anyone who has used both.

Thanks for any information. As any professional programmer knows, productvity
is everything, and that means using the best tools available. So, is Lattice 
now enough better to be worth the switch?

-- 
			Carlos Smith
			uucp:...!mit-eddie!ileaf!carlos
			Bix:	carlosmith

jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) (02/07/89)

In article <937@io.UUCP> carlos (Carlos Smith x4433) writes:
>I need the maximum speed possible for the project I am working on. Are
>Lattice's claims of dramtically higher performance true? It would be worth
>it to switch if it is indeed 50% faster than Manx on compute intensive code.

	The performance is much higher than before.  I recompiled Moria,
about 1 Meg of C, and cut the executable by > 20% in size.  You can do better
with other programs (Moria is generic, but often ugly, C translated from
Pascal).

>So, has anyone out there switched and ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED a dramatic
>improvement in the performance of their code? Do you find that compile time
>compares favorable with Manx? Does the floating point support seem robust?
>Anyone using the in-line floating point support? And, is the compiler stable,
>that is, pretty bug-free. I have heard the support is good, but I would prefer
>to not have to use it!

	The 5.02 patches were just released, and are being sent to all
registered owners.  The improvement is fairly dramatic, far more so if you
are using an '020/'030 or '881/'882.

>Thanks for any information. As any professional programmer knows, productvity
>is everything, and that means using the best tools available. So, is Lattice 
>now enough better to be worth the switch?

	In my mind, yes.  Disclaimer: I beta-tested for Lattice, and have 
rarely used Manx.

-- 
Randell Jesup, Commodore Engineering {uunet|rutgers|allegra}!cbmvax!jesup

papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) (02/07/89)

In article <5909@cbmvax.UUCP> jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes:
>	The 5.02 patches were just released, and are being sent to all
>registered owners.  The improvement is fairly dramatic, far more so if you
>are using an '020/'030 or '881/'882.

Is this what LATTICE told you? Should we "registered" owners of Lattice C 5.0
wait for the upgrade in the mail, or should we log on the BBS and pick up 
the 5.02 patches?

-- Marco Papa 'Doc'
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
uucp:...!pollux!papa       BIX:papa       ARPAnet:pollux!papa@oberon.usc.edu
 "There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Diga!" -- Leo Schwab [quoting Rick Unland]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (02/08/89)

In article <5909@cbmvax.UUCP> jesup@cbmvax.UUCP (Randell Jesup) writes:
>	The 5.02 patches were just released, and are being sent to all
>registered owners.  

In article <15200@oberon.USC.EDU> papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) responds:
> Is this what LATTICE told you? Should we "registered" owners of Lattice 
> C 5.0 wait for the upgrade in the mail, or should we log on the BBS and 
> pick up the 5.02 patches?

Yes, this is what LATTICE told us on BIX.

Generally, I've got some mixed emotions on the whole 5.0 -> 5.02 deal here.
On the one hand, they responded rather quickly to the bugs, on the other
hand there were a few bugs that beta testing should have caught. Then
they put the updates on BIX (this is a better deal for some people) but
on the other hand they had essentially zip documentation to go with the
7 or 8 ARC files of fixes. Most use "Patch" (which is on the distribution
disks) but patch isn't documented in either manual or mentioned in the 
Master Index. It has really been hot and cold emotions here. I spent
three hours last night attempting to apply the fixes, doing so very 
carefully so that I would know that the correct modules had been fixed 
and that the fixed versions replaced the old versions. I'm still not
convinced I got it all right. Yes, it is a wonderful compiler, and
yes many of the fixes were appreciated, but gee, what a way to waste
an evening.


--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.

fnf@estinc.UUCP (Fred Fish) (02/08/89)

In article <88695@sun.uucp> cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) writes:
> [stuff about patching Lattice 5.0 to get 5.02]
>							    I spent
>three hours last night attempting to apply the fixes, doing so very 
>carefully so that I would know that the correct modules had been fixed 
>and that the fixed versions replaced the old versions. I'm still not
>convinced I got it all right. Yes, it is a wonderful compiler, and
>yes many of the fixes were appreciated, but gee, what a way to waste
>an evening.

One simple way to ensure that their customers got all the patches
right would be for them to include a crc listing of all the files
on a patched disk.  The "rls" and "crc" programs in my library
solve exactly this problem.

-Fred
-- 
# Fred Fish, 1835 E. Belmont Drive, Tempe, AZ 85284,  USA
# 1-602-491-0048           asuvax!{nud,mcdphx}!estinc!fnf

mwm@eris.berkeley.edu (Mike (I'll think of something yet) Meyer) (02/11/89)

In article <59@estinc.UUCP> fnf@estinc.UUCP (Fred Fish) writes:
<In article <88695@sun.uucp> cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis) writes:
<> [stuff about patching Lattice 5.0 to get 5.02]
<>							    I spent
<>three hours last night attempting to apply the fixes, doing so very 
<>carefully so that I would know that the correct modules had been fixed 
<>and that the fixed versions replaced the old versions.

That's odd - I spent about that long; most of it was downloading
the patch files. Then again, I'd also been through the 5.01 patches,
so the documentation wasn't that important.

Did you use the "official" update sent in the mail? Or did you
download the patches? I wouldn't be surprised if the download patches
are missing the documentation, on the expectation that they go to an
"experienced" users. That doesn't excuse them from being missing,
though.

<One simple way to ensure that their customers got all the patches
<right would be for them to include a crc listing of all the files
<on a patched disk.  The "rls" and "crc" programs in my library
<solve exactly this problem.

The lattice patch program checksums the result, and lets you know if
you got it right. You then have to rename the patched.new file to
patched (after renaming patched to patched.old, one hopes). That the
libraries are patched in a different way, and some commmands were
replaced instead of patched doesn't help.

Since you have to have assigns pointing to the libraries, include
files and binaries, they ought to be able to distribute a cli script
that would patch everything for you. That should take care of all the
above problems.

BTW, LMK 1.04 (the 5.10 lmk) disagrees badly with LMK 1.05 (the 5.02)
lmk. They broke LMK badly enough that I'm going back to make.

	<mike
--
Il brilgue: les toves lubricilleux			Mike Meyer
Se gyrent en vrillant dans le guave,			mwm@berkeley.edu
Enmimes sont les gougebosqueux,				ucbvax!mwm
Et le momerade horsgrave.				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET