Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!sunic!liuida!prosys!ath
From: ath@prosys.se (Anders Thulin)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Power C Compiler
Keywords: compiler
Message-ID: <475@helios.prosys.se>
Date: 6 May 90 05:46:32 GMT
References: <29356@ut-emx.UUCP>
Organization: Programsystem AB, Teknikringen 2A, S-583 30 Linkoping, Sweden
Lines: 38

In article <29356@ut-emx.UUCP> rchan@ut-emx.UUCP (Ricardo Chan) writes:
>I just got an order card for a C compiler called "Power C",
>sold by "MIX Software" from Richardson, TX.
>
>Does anybody have any experiense with this package?

I have used release 2.0.0 for a while now. It is certainly worth the
price.

Some programs cause the optimizer to hiccough. Bad, especially since
the optimizer cannot be disabled.

If you are *very* concerned with ANSI C compliancy, however, don't use
it. The compiler does accept function prototypes, and knows about const
and volatile, but that seem to be about it. 

Type-checking of consts is incomplete: you can assign values to consts
without any complaints from the compiler. Type-checking of prototypes
vs. function definitions seem to be incomplete too - they can differ
quite a bit without any error message.

Several include files are non-ANSI, and the user's namespace isn't
preserved as the ANSI standard specifies.

There is no support for wide characters.

Apart from these things I have had no problems with the Power C
compiler. Indeed most of my old programs compiled and run without
problems.

I also bought the PowerTrace debugger. I was quite surprise of the 
quality of it - I am quite satisfied with it.

Hope this is of some use,

-- 
Anders Thulin       ath@prosys.se   {uunet,mcsun}!sunic!prosys!ath
Telesoft Europe AB, Teknikringen 2B, S-583 30 Linkoping, Sweden