Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!ucbvax!info-atari
From: Felton.PA@XEROX.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.micro.atari
Subject: Re: ACTION! vs. C/65
Message-ID: <860103-101140-1298@Xerox>
Date: Fri, 3-Jan-86 13:11:33 EST
Article-I.D.: Xerox.860103-101140-1298
Posted: Fri Jan  3 13:11:33 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Jan-86 05:28:42 EST
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 44


>Can anyone discuss the relative merits or otherwise of OSS's ACTION!
cartridge
>vs. their C/65 compiler.



	I have both and wish I could give a detailed comparison, but, in truth
I haven't used the C compiler much at all (this is by choice, not
chance). On the other hand I have used the ACTION! compiler extensively.
The way I see it, if you want portability then use the C compiler. If
you want the most powerful high level language available for the Atari
then use ACTION!. What makes ACTION! so powerful is that it was designed
specifcally for the Atari, so it provides better access to the Atari's
special features. Another big plus is that ACTION provides such a nice
programming environment. It's integrated editor and compiler and it's
fast compile times make it a joy to use. With C/65 you must ...
	
	1. load an editor
	2. edit and save your program
	3. load C/65 and compile your program
	4. load Mac/65 and assemble your program
	5. run your program
	
	With ACTION! ( with small programs )
	
	1. edit program
	2. compile (less than 5 sec.)
	3. run
	
	With big ACTION! programs the source code must be saved to disk and
compiled from there. This is still much faster than C/65.
	
	On the other hand ACTION! is only available for the Atari so for
portability it is as bad as you can get. However, I have been told that
Clinton Parker is working on a version of ACTION! for the Atari ST.
	
	I hope this helps and I hope that someone who has used C/65 more
extensively can give it's good points (such a person will be harder to
find because ACTION! out sells C/65 100:1).
	
	
	
JOHN