Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!sdd.hp.com!mips!daver!ditka!zorch!amiga0!mykes From: mykes@amiga0.SF-Bay.ORG (Mike Schwartz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: Computer Architecture question -- Daye Haynie Message-ID: Date: 10 May 91 09:58:11 GMT References: <48625@ut-emx.uucp> <#c4G!au$1@cs.psu.edu> <1991May8.042432.27636@NCoast.ORG> Organization: Amiga makes it possible Lines: 45 In article <1991May8.042432.27636@NCoast.ORG> davewt@NCoast.ORG (David Wright) writes: >In article <#c4G!au$1@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger) writes: >>Of course it will be some work for NeXT. However, for the software >>developers it will be easy, so 99.99% of the current software will run >>within days on the 88K machines. While your finally hand-coded >>assembly code on the Amiga will take quite a bit of effort. > I think you are overestimating the number of programs that were >written in AL on the Amiga. I would not be too afraid to make a bet that >only games and *maybe* less than 5 commercial packages (not big name ones >at that) were written in AL at all, and that where they were, it was in well >placed low-level functions such as time critical loops, which would be easy >to replace with HL code immediately if the new machine was fast enough that >AL was no longer needed, or fairly simply coded over in the new machines >AL. > I have never seen ANY commercial program actually "brag" about being >written in AL (as you stated in an earlier message), and in fact, the only >people I have ever seen admit to writing anything other than a small utility >(which people could live without) in AL were die-hard demo and game coders >from Europe, who would probably not migrate to the new machine right away >anyway. > I know that 100% of what I write is in C or another HL that I could >reasonably expect to be available for the new machine, and I would expect to >be able to simply recompile my own software in a matter of minutes on the >new machine, just as you say people will do with the nExt. > Do you really think that serious programs like WorkPerfect, Maple, >etc. etc. which are available on many different platforms are written in >some form of AL? > > I'd bet the farm that ALL of Newtek's software (toaster, digipaint, digiview) are done in 100% assembly (and it shows :) There are many others that claim significant portions written in assembly for *speed*. Again, I say that if it's worth switching to a better processor than the 040 (25MHz today, 100MHz in a couple of years :), it will be fast enough to run a 68000 emulator! > Dave -- **************************************************** * I want games that look like Shadow of the Beast * * but play like Leisure Suit Larry. * ****************************************************