🚀 go-pugleaf

We are running Modula Corp.'s one-pass M2 compiler on a network (3COM)
of Zenith PCs (IBM-compatible).  In general, I am satisfied.  The old
4-pass interpreter from them was SLOW, so this is a vast improvement.
My experience with their products is that they are buggy (I found
3 bugs in the compiler the first day I received it), but they
are usually quick to respond with fixes and (almost) free updates.
The one-pass compiler really flies on a Z-158 with >=512K memory
and a hard disk.  The speed is satisfactory on a Z-150 (slower clock speed)
with 320K and a single floppy drive on the network.  So far the students
haven't complained (except one student when the compiler locked up his PC due to
a syntax error where he declared an identifier twice in the same scope!
He had to turn off the PC to reboot.  I called Modula Corp. about this one).
We also bought their symbolic debugger.  It is designed for a system with a
mouse, but I have found it useful for tracking down obscure bugs.

We have an OLD copy of the Logitech compiler.  I have not used it in a long
time, so I will withhold comment.  We bought the Modula Corp. compiler
because they were the lowest bidder.  We got a VERY good deal, I believe.

We bought a copy of a Modula-2 system from Interface Technologies in Houston,
Texas.  It was also buggy, but my biggest gripe was with their editor.  It
is a window-oriented, syntax-directed editor.  I don't like syntax directed
editors, but that is just my own bias.  However, with one keystroke, you
can erase your entire MODULE, and the "undo" command did not work in the
editor.  This is not very good for a student environment, to say the least.
This was about 1-1/2 years ago, so I don't know what the product is like
now - or if the company even exists, for that matter.

I have many examples of MODULA-2 programs which use the coroutine
facilities (note that they are not truely "concurrent processes", although
you could build a time-slicing scheduler for coroutines, as many others
have already).  They are mostly from assignments for the undergraduate
operating systems course I teach here.  I'll send you some examples
in separate messages.
______________________________________
Harvard Townsend, Systems Administrator
Kansas State University, Dept. of Computer Science
Manhattan, KS 66506   (913)532-6350
CSNET:	harv@kansas-state -or- harv%kansas-state@csnet-relay.arpa
			  -or- harv%kansas-state@relay.cs.net
BITNET: harv@ksuvax1.bitnet -or- harv%ksuvax1.bitnet@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
UUCP: ihnp4!ltuxa!ksuvax1!harv