Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!asuvax!hrc!force!covertr
From: covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: ANSI C
Summary: How about the GEM AES/VDI Interface in Prospero C??
Message-ID: <46254799.14a1f@force.UUCP>
Date: 10 Oct 89 15:29:42 GMT
References: <1267@sdcc13.ucsd.EDU> <1379@blackbird.afit.af.mil>
Distribution: na
Organization: gte
Lines: 40

In article <1379@blackbird.afit.af.mil>, jlong@blackbird.afit.af.mil (Jeffrey K. Long) writes:
> I have Prospero-C and it is "...a complete implemention of the proposed
>  ANSI standard for C for use on the Atari-ST range of computers"
>                     (quoted from the back of the box it came in)
> 

Jeff Long, how complete is the GEM AES/VDI Library in the Prospero C
compiler?? I am currently using Mark Williams C, version 3.09, but it isn't
ANSI compatible, and isn't even all that UNIX compatible (no signal() for
example). 

Does the Prospero compiler have a rich set of UNIX style lib functions??

How does it handle floating point arithmetic??

Can it use the math coprocessor chip, if installed?? MWC doesn't.

How close to the draft ANSI standard is Prospero?? Is the processor 
compliant??

Where the heck is Prospero?? How good is there technical support??

How compatible is the Prospero compiler with the Laser C compiler?? Can I
compile Laser C code with the Prosero?? I can't with MWC (different header
files, libs etc).

To defend Mark Williams a little, while their C compiler is rapidly aging,
MWC offers excellent technical support, including an 800 number. MWC responds
to technical bugs quickly. I was having an interaction problem with PINHEAD
which was causing the MWC Resource Editor to bomb. I called MWC to report that
their RSC EDitor was bombing and they returned my call within a day. It turned out to
be a problem with PINHEAD and not the MWC RSC Editor, but I didn't know that when
I called MWC. And the MWC C ompiler manual is a goldmine of sample C code for
GEM AES/VDI routines!! I am constantly referring to the manual!


So, I would be less then willing to drop MWC, but it would be great to have a
ANSI C compiler!!

Richard Covert