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From: kent@sunfs3.Camex.COM (Kent Borg)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Version 7.0 questions
Message-ID: <1930@camex.COM>
Date: 10 Apr 91 16:58:51 GMT
References: <1991Mar15.03 <1991Apr8.153415.3908@vax5.cit.cornell.edu> <1991Apr9.003731.10182@wpi.WPI.EDU>
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In article <1991Apr9.003731.10182@wpi.WPI.EDU> jhp@wpi.WPI.EDU (John Petrangleo) writes:
>I don't know.  Have you eve checked out the memory required by DA's compared
>to applications.  DA's only take up 16K, compared to apps which take 100's
>or 1000's of K.  Granted DA's aren't as powerful, but sometimes I only have
>100K or less available, so its nice to cram an only slightly powerful DA
>into memory instead of quitting something to load some full blown program.
>I know app. programmers could write smaller programs, but the smallest
>I've ever seen requires around 64K.
>
>Maybe I've missed some crucial point about DA's stealing memory from somewhere
>else to pull off this minimal memory magic.  If some one could shed some light
>on this, I'd like to know how DA's can be so small yet still do so much
>sometimes.

One reason DAs can do a lot in a little space is that they are often
better written.  OK, maybe there is some lower limit to memory usage
by an application because it gets full globals and jump tables and
stacks, and stuff like that, but there is no reason why programmers
cannot write small applications that do small things.

Which brings me around to one of my controversial views.  I am glad
the Classic is such a slow machine.  The fact that Apple is selling
them by the plane-load keeps developers from assuming that everybody
has IIfx's.  Unchecked, programs will expand to eat all of the
available resources and the Classic helps put a stop to that.  The
downside is that the poor folks who own Classics (or even worse a
Plus, as I have) will have to live with applications which have
expanded to the limits of their computers.

I think that all programmers in Apple should be forced (yes, *forced*)
to use Classics on a regular basis--as should all non-Apple
developers.  The Classic is a powerful machine, a computer many of us
would have died for 10-years ago.  Needing an fx to run a word
processor or draw program is stupid, just plain stupid.


Fight Computer Gluttony!!


--
Kent Borg                            internet: kent@camex.com   AOL: kent borg
                                            H:(617) 776-6899  W:(617) 426-3577
"We foolishly did not realize that he was stupid."  - April Glasbie 3-20-91