🚀 go-pugleaf

> I was playing with a Mac today, and I used for a short while the 'Hippo-C'
> package. I didn't do much in-depth, but it looked reasonable. Has anyone
> else used it enough to make a (good or bad) recomendation? What other C
> compilers are there that I should be looking at?
> 
> chuq
> -- 
> From the Department of Bistromatics:                   Chuq Von Rospach
> {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui  nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA
> 
I recommend that anyone considering a C compiler for the Mac should try
Mac C from Consulair Corp. Mac C was used to write most of Apple's
assembler development system and it is a nice package.
I have been using Mac C for over a month with very good results.
Support from Consulair has been excellent.  Their address is:
    140 Campo Drive, Portola Valley, CA 94025 (415)851-3849
I have no connection with Consulair other than as a satisfied customer.
-- 
Stephen J. Langdon                  ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,amd,nsc}!amdahl!sjl

[ The article above is not an official statement from any organization
  in the known universe. ]

> > I was playing with a Mac today, and I used for a short while the 'Hippo-C'
> > package. I didn't do much in-depth, but it looked reasonable. Has anyone
> > else used it enough to make a (good or bad) recomendation? What other C
> > compilers are there that I should be looking at?
> > 
> > chuq
> > -- 
> > From the Department of Bistromatics:                   Chuq Von Rospach
> > {cbosgd,decwrl,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui  nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA
> > 
> I recommend that anyone considering a C compiler for the Mac should try
> Mac C from Consulair Corp. Mac C was used to write most of Apple's
> assembler development system and it is a nice package.
> I have been using Mac C for over a month with very good results.
> Support from Consulair has been excellent.  Their address is:
>     140 Campo Drive, Portola Valley, CA 94025 (415)851-3849
> I have no connection with Consulair other than as a satisfied customer.
> -- 
> Stephen J. Langdon                  ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,amd,nsc}!amdahl!sjl
> 
> [ The article above is not an official statement from any organization
>   in the known universe. ]

I saw today in Electronic Engineering Times (12 Nov 84, p 101) an article
titled _New_Development_Software_May_Spur_Mac_Packages.  Included with the
article was a table listing 22 companies supplying languages for the Mac.
Those with entries in the C column are:

	Company				Phone

	Consulair Corp.			415-851-3849

	Hippopotamus			408-730-2601

	Manx Software			201-780-4004

	Mark Williams			312-472-6659	First Qtr 85

	Megamax, Inc.			214-987-4931

	Softworks, Ltd.			312-327-7666

I am not familiar with any of these.

Charlie Sorsby
...!lanl-a!crs
crs@lanl

>>I'm thinking of purchasing a Fat Mac w/2 drives to use as a software
>>development system, and I'd like to get some feedback on the feasibility
>>of such use.  In particular:
>>
>>1. Is the Mac Assembler/Debugger a viable software development tool
>>   for machine language programming?  Has Apple produced a reasonably
>>   bug-free version, able to handle large source files, with linking
>>   capability, and so forth?
>>
>>2. Are there any worthwhile implementations of C available for the Mac?
>>   (E.g. how do they shape up as regards portability, size limitations
>>    on source code, Kernighan&Ritchie adherence, etc.)
>>   I've heard of a Unix C, from Holt/Stanford, which requires a Vax
>>   to utilize; has anyone had any experience with it?  Are any C
>>   compilers compatible with the Mac Assembler?
>>
	
     At Comdex I saw all the C compilers for the Mac and talked to a reviewer
     doing a review. These are the benchmarks that he had for the sieve program
     that was in BYTE last year.

     
                    execution speed     file size      compilation/link etc.
 
     Megamax        6.2 (4.17 reg vars)   5k              105

     Softworks         7.0               25k              300+

     Consulair        10.0               12k              125

     Hippo            60+                 ?               N/A


     He had not recieved the Manx compiler yet, but I talked to them and
     they do not have the capability yet to create a Macintosh type executable
     file (you must use their shell). The Megamax and the Softworks are the
     other two K&R compatible versions. The Consulair does not yet have 
     floating point. 

     The Megamax C compiler has in-line assembler and the compiler produces
     object code directly. Thus, there is no need for the 68000 developement
     system. The people at Megamax said that Apples object file format is still
     under discussion and they will convert to it when it is decided upon.
     The Megamax C compiler allows dynamic overlays and so I doubt that there
     is any problem with compiling very big programs. Also it is the only
     compiler out yet that has a librarian and the ability of the linker
     to link in just the routines that are called (this explains the small
     code size). 

     I don't know their address but Megamax's phone number is (214) 987-4931    

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> 
>      He had not recieved the Manx compiler yet, but I talked to them and
>      they do not have the capability yet to create a Macintosh type executable
>      file (you must use their shell). 
>      Also it (Megamax) is the only
>      compiler out yet that has a librarian and the ability of the linker
>      to link in just the routines that are called (this explains the small
>      code size). 
Both these statements are out-of-date.  Manx's Aztec C can create
an application (Versaterm was written with Manx C) and has a
librarian and library searching linker.  I have run them both,
but have not run benchmarks.  The speed and power of the compilers
"seem" to be about equal.  It looks to me like the trade off
is in price versus development tools.  I would not want to have
to make a  choice between these two compilers.

I have not had the need to call the Manx people, but I did call
the Megamax folks, and they were helpful in the extreme.  Researched
my problem, then called back in a very short time.

-- 
"The number of arguments is unimportant unless some of them are correct."

Michael Ward, NCAR/SCD
UUCP: {hplabs,nbires,brl-bmd,seismo,menlo70,stcvax}!hao!ward
ARPA: hplabs!hao!sa!ward@Berkeley
BELL: 303-497-1252
USPS: POB 3000, Boulder, CO  80307

In article <1285@hao.UUCP> ward@hao.UUCP (Mike Ward) writes:
>
>I have not had the need to call the Manx people, but I did call
>the Megamax folks, and they were helpful in the extreme.  Researched
>my problem, then called back in a very short time.
>

I HAVE had an occasion to call the Manx people.  We got a version of their
compiler in house for evaluation.  I took a small application (small enough
that it didn't require segmentation) that we were doing and tried to get it
to compile.  All I got was 'out of space'.  I moved to a fat mac.  Same
result.

Repeated calling was to no avail.  Usually, the line is busy or no-one answers.
When I got someone, it was a salesman who I was finally able to get a tech
number out of.  The tech number had no reply for almost a week.  When I got 
someone, he promised to 'look into it'.  This was about a month ago.

Turns out, I don't really care any more.  Looking at some *puny* things that
compiled showed the code generated was pretty bad.  Classic case of a general
purpose portable compiler, though it is at least better than Sumaccs.

I have had good luck, though, talking with both Megamax and Consulair.  All
in all, I would recommend Megamax for anyone wants mac stand-alone C.

					Alien

PS:  Don't delude yourself.  If you are going to do any serious development,
you have to have a hard disk, either a HyperDrive or an external hard disk.