kensy@microsoft.UUCP (Ken SYKES) (05/02/90)
Here is one thing to consider when purchasing your development tools: For better or for worse, using the development tools that Microsoft itself uses allows you to keep in step with changes in the operating system. C is the "official" language for Windows and almost all of the documentation assumes that this is the language you are developing in. While Microsoft tools are a little more expensive than the other tools you can at least be sure that as changes occur in the operating system that your tools will be updated to support the changes. I purchased Microsoft tools for this reason EVEN BEFORE working at Microsoft and this philosophy has paid off. Not to mention that that our tools are pretty good. The C compiler generates good code in most cases (C 6.0 especially), we provide source-level debugging in both DOS and Windows, and we have a very large support group available to answer your questions. As far as Actor goes it is an interesting alternative. It seems like you will be able to generate small to medium size applications faster than writing them in C and is ideal for "quick&dirty" apps. To what extent it applies to large scale programs or to more advanced features such as DLLs I can't say - haven't developed anything in it. The ads look good though. Also if you are developing commercial apps you'll have to look closely at the memory overhead, speed hit, run-time licensing, etc. if you use actor. My personal opinion is commercial apps should be written in C. Hope this helps. --Ken Sykes --------------------------------- I do not speak officially for Microsoft. In fact, I don't speak officially at all!
patrickd@chinet.chi.il.us (Patrick Deupree) (05/04/90)
In article <292600002@trsvax> reyn@trsvax.UUCP writes: >A less traditional approach is the Actor language/development environment. >My understanding is that I could generate applications with this without >the need for the Windows development kit or the C compiler. I am a little >unclear whether or not these are necessary to write DLL's or not, and >welcome input from anyone who has experience in these areas. > Actually, Actor depends on your definition of "traditional". Actor has been around since Windows was first released. I've talked to our developers about things they did under Windows 0.5. In any case, you can't write a DLL or any C code with Actor. Actor is it's own environment/language. We do, however, allow all of the C Windows calls, so there is no reason you should need to write a DLL (unless you're doing something extremely complex). Actor is the easiest and most complete way available to enter the Windows world of programming. I started Windows programming with Actor and am glad that I did since it made the whole environment a lot easier to program in. Drop me a line with your address, phone number, etc. and I can get you more information if you like. >There is such a proliferation of tools/languages/ etc. for Windows that its >obvious I could spent big bucks without much trouble. My basic needs to >begin is for a set of tools which allow me to investigate all of the >features of the environment along with a reasonable debugger to compensate >for my limited mental accuity. > >Thanks in advance for any thoughts, > John Reynolds -- "Organized fandom is composed of a bunch of nitpickers with a thing for trivial pursuit." -Harlan Ellison Patrick Deupree -> patrickd@chinet.chi.il.us