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From: dtg@houem.UUCP (F.GRIZMALA)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: RE: Let's C Compiler (actualy MIX-C Compiler)
Message-ID: <627@houem.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 19-Sep-86 12:08:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: houem.627
Posted: Fri Sep 19 12:08:13 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 21-Sep-86 18:26:55 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 37



	I have used most of the C Compilers EXCEPT Let's C. Of all the
compilers I have tried, the two I use most often are The Mark Williams C
Compiler for my serious work and MIX-C for my "fun" work.

	MIX-C has its good points and its bad points. The biggest plus 
it has going for it is the "extra" routines it gives you - ie. the
screen functions: clear screen, position cursor, etc. - I wrote these
routines using the Mark Williams Compiler but it was not very much fun to
do. 

	The biggest drawback to the MIX-C Compiler is that it does not
create standard object code and it creates a .COM file rather then a .EXE
file. This limits your compiled code to 64K. They do give you a way to "link"
these .COM files but it is not very elegant. With me, this limitation
provided me with a "fun" challange: to create a full blown data base (I/O
screens, add, modify, delete, search on any field(s), etc) in the 64K
permitted. While it wasn't easy, it WAS do-able.

	One little problem I encountered with the MIX Compiler (and there
is still much debate between MIX, myself and other users of the Compiler
if this is a "problem") is when you have a newline (\n) is a file you are
trying to read. If you create a file and do a dir on it, look at the size
and then try to read that many characters, you end up with garbage at the
end of the file. Reason: the \n counts as two characters to the DOS dir
command but only 1 character to the read command. No problem? 

	Just subtract 1 for each newline in the file, adjust your size
accordingly (if you have 3 newlines, instead of char inp[33] you use
char inp[30] right?). NOW: when you do a lseek you can't use sizeof(inp)
because the lseek counts the \n as two characters again.

	Once you get accustomed to this little problem (they do have a way
around this also but again...not very elegant) the MIX-C Compiler is a
SUPER Compiler and for the money...everyone should have one.