Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!think.com!spool.mu.edu!mips!pacbell.com!att!ucbvax!DMAFHT1.BITNET!X903 From: X903@DMAFHT1.BITNET (Marc Wachowitz) Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2 Subject: Re: Oberon for MS-DOS Message-ID: Date: 16 May 91 13:03:17 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: Modula2 List Organization: The Internet Lines: 32 There is an Oberon compiler for MS-DOS, but it is missing almost every- thing (documentation of internals, REALs/LONGREALs, not even to mention garbage collection - i.e. what you once have allocated with NEW lasts forewer; no runtime checks, only addition/subtraction allowed for LONGINT, ASH doesn't work, SIZE returns INTEGER, and more similar nonsense). Additionally it has some very low internal limits, which result in completely unrelated error messages when exceeded. Names are silently cut after some number of characters (I don't remember the exact value, but I remember it's too low for me), names in object files are all-uppercase, etc, etc. Enough? In case you still want to get it, it's on the recently announced host at ETH Zurich, neptune.inf.ethz.ch (129.132.101.33). I'm currently writing my own extended Oberon compiler for 80286 or later (but intended to simplify porting to other systems; I'm even playing with the idea of generating C source code). The result will be available under the terms of the GNU Public Licence (but has no other relation to the FSF); since the project is still far from complete, don't ask where to get it :-) (flame on) In fact, I don't consider Oberon the right language for a beginner course, I would recommend some Lisp-like language, preferably Scheme. First teach people how to express clearly what they think, then how to implement it efficiently. I feel Oberon is better suited for people who already have a good knowledge about algorithms and data structures, and some experience in systems programming. Though that's of course only my personal opinion. (flame off) Marc Wachowitz X903@DMAFHT1.BITNET