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From: vaughan@orion.UUCP (Robert Vaughan)
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
Subject: Experience with MS-Pascal, Turbo, and MS-C
Message-ID: <24@orion.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25-Sep-86 18:31:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: orion.24
Posted: Thu Sep 25 18:31:17 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 30-Sep-86 20:31:22 EDT
Organization: TRW Digital Development Laboratory, Manhattan Beach, CA
Lines: 33
Keywords: C, Pascal, Microsoft, TurboPascal

I recently had an interest experience in using the three systems
above (MS-Pascal, TurboPascal, and MS-C). I wrote a filter program
that did some character level processing on a text file, before
outputting it (through the Tangent Technolgies PC Macbridge, usual
disclaimers...) to an Apple Laserwriter. The program basically performed
a state-machine processing and replaced certain macros with expansions
that were translated into things like headers for memos, etc., on the
LaserWriter. 

Having started with only MS-Pascal, I then recompiled using TurboPascal.
After acquiring a copy of MS-C, i rewrote the code in C. The intersting
part of all this is the resulting size and execution times, listed below:

  Data file size: 9744 bytes
  MS-Pascal executable:  25K bytes
  TurboPascal executable: 25K bytes
  MS-C executable: 10K bytes
  Time to execute:
	MS-Pascal           TurboPascal               MS-C
	---------           -----------              -------
	  2:55                4:37                    1:35
  (time in min:secs, includes access to network and printing)

This example is by no means a definite becnhmarking; and yet, for a first
time user of the various compilers on the IBM-PC, it seems that the various
claims of Turbo (fast faster fastest!!!) I have seen in some magazines are
somewhat overrated. The character level I/O seems to be most efficient in C,
and of the two Pascals, Turbo is definitely too slow.... It is nice to have
a fast compiler and integrated editor package, but if the code can't hack
it, I'll take the slow way during compiles every time!

(disclaimers galore: I don't work for any of these companies, and if I did
 they'd probably shoot me for sending mail like this...)