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From: terrell@OHIO-STATE.CSNET (Eric Terrell)
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari
Subject: an informal review of the hippo-c compiler
Message-ID: <8512061216.AA26501@ucbvax.berkeley.edu>
Date: Thu, 5-Dec-85 20:29:14 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8512061216.AA26501
Posted: Thu Dec  5 20:29:14 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 7-Dec-85 20:13:50 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
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Although the hippo-c compiler from haba is one of the few compilers out for
the 520ST, I would strongly urge anyone interested in getting a compiler
to wait for others to hit the marketplace.

hippo-c is copy protected (which is insane for a compiler)!  The manual says
that one can copy the files to another disk and use it, as long as the
original is in disk a.  While this is true, for a single drive system,
one is obliged to use the original disk for storing program files, etc.

Although the manual gives one the impression that hippo-c is a full
K & R C comiler (except for floating point) I had great difficulties
getting some of my C programs compiled with it.  A was able to compile
a trivial one.  When I tried to compile a somewhat longer program
(about 400 lines) I got the fatal error "out of registers."  Nowhere
in the manual is there any mention of why it ran out of registers.  I felt
like screaming "then use !@#$!@#$ main memory!"

The icon - based user interface of GEM really appeals to me.  The hippo-c
compiler does not use this interface and instead has a pseudo UNIX
interface.  I would much have preferred to use icons and the mouse,
even though I use UNIX all the time.

So to sum up, unless you are VERY desperate for a c compiler and are willing
to settle for a copy-protected compiler with nontrivial bugs and an
unsatisfactory user interface, don't get it.  (I'll be happy to sell mine
).

Eric Terrell