Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sdcsla.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ittatc!dcdwest!sdcsvax!sdcsla!hestenes
From: hestenes@sdcsla.UUCP (Eric Hestenes)
Newsgroups: net.micro.cpm
Subject: Re: MIX C compiler and Editor?
Message-ID: <1011@sdcsla.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 21-Oct-85 04:39:39 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcsla.1011
Posted: Mon Oct 21 04:39:39 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 22-Oct-85 07:23:44 EDT
References: <2250@sdcc6.UUCP>
Organization: U.C. San Diego, Cognitive Science Lab
Lines: 70

> Has anyone out there tried the MIX C compiler and Editor for CP/M?  What do
> John Antypas
> UC San Diego


john,

i ordered the mix 'c' compiler about 3 weeks ago and it was shipped
( dated 10/15 ) to me this week. $45 including shipping. 

It appears to be a complete implementation of 'C' and has a large number
of unix-like and cpm-specific functions ( i.e. bdos/bios calls, chain ).

The manual is very large ( like a small telephone book ) and seems 
pretty good. It's loaded with examples ( about one example per 
item described ). The type-face stinks, though, and also the production
quality ( i.e. rather poor indexes. ) The manual compares to aztec, but that
might be as far as it goes. 

The compiler is quite slow, but appears to work ( for $40, the latter was
certainly in doubt. ) I tested it by compiling some xlisp source, and it
compiled without changes. It appears, though, that there are some kludges.
For example, to run an executable file you have to have a runtime
overlay on the disk, and the overlay ( that loads in the stdio package
) is loaded up ( slowly ) before the program runs. This seems artificial to
me. I should point out that a compiler option turns this off, but then one
isn't using i/o. 

The compiler in one pass creates an object file that can be passsed to the
linker.
Two utilities are provided that can be used before linking: a code speed
optimizer ( increases speed and code size ) and a code size optimizer 
( decreases size and speed ). I haven't had a chance to try these.

The code doesn't appear too fast, but i haven't tested it either with a
benchmark or by using the speedup utility. 

They do provide a full gamut of 'C' tools, from void constructs to
assigning structures to standard i/o functions. Also there is some source code
to some of the i/o functions ( fprintf, i think, etc ( ??? )).


Overall, I commend them on providing full K&R compatibility ( both the compiler
and the manual are highly compatible ). At this point I can't commend them
for runtime efficiency, nor for user interface ( as i would turbo pascal ).

However, for the price it is obviously excellent, especially given the
full K&R support ( including floats and longs, unix fns ( e.g. execl, execv,
printf, getc, etc )). 

For anyone on a budget, i recommend it, particularily for c novices
( there's a decent tutorial ). If you're rich, aztec is better, 
but maybe not for long. With several changes, this package could compete.
I should point out that it costs more for two books on 'C' than for this
compiler that includes a first-rate manual and is portable to many machines. 

Apple cpm users beware: 2 normal drives are not enough, unless you are fond of 
pulling floppies in and out of drives. A Unidisk 3.5 or a hard disk is
recommendable for this package, unless you have an editor that is smaller
than, say, wordstar. ( 30K ) One drive systems with less than 300K are out of
the question. However, it does work with 2 drives and 64k.

if anyone has specific questions, mail me and i'll try to answer them.

eric
---------
Eric Hestenes
arpanet: hestenes@nprdc.ARPA
other: ucbvax!sdcsvax!sdcsla!hestenes or hestenes@sdcsla.UUCP
[ is this considered an ad? I hope not :-) ]