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From: nather@ut-sally.UUCP (Ed Nather)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: assembly programming prefereable to HLL programming ?
Message-ID: <6527@ut-sally.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Dec-86 09:44:18 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-sally.6527
Posted: Tue Dec  9 09:44:18 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Dec-86 03:24:39 EST
References: <646@instable.UUCP> <476@atari.UUcp> <8@blipyramid.BLI.COM>
Organization: U. Texas CS Dept., Austin, Texas
Lines: 31

In 1975 I wrote a real-time data display and acquision program for a DGC
Nova computer entirely in assembly language.  It took very close to a year
to get it debugged and working, despite the fact I had written essentially
the same program 6 times before.  (New peripherals became available.)
I did my best to use modular constructs and other good things, but the code 
is still very difficult to work on.  It runs fast.

I'm now re-writing the same program in C for an IBM PC, and I am amazed at
how much faster it is going.  I have it about 1/2 done and it's taken less
than a month.  I still did the time-critical parts in assembly (the display
updating, and the driver for the input port), because they were too slow in
C -- and I learned how GOD-AWFUL segments are ...

Because the job is much more quickly done in C, I am including a (simple)
full-screen editor for use as a logbook maintainer, and the program set-up
has a restricted full-screen editor that works in a window.  I would NEVER
include these goodies if I had to do the whole thing in assembly code.  It
would just be too much work.  

So, for what it's worth, writing in C will result in a better, more versatile
program that is easier to use, with no sacrifice in the basic operation or
essential speed.

It's easy to write poor, slow programs in any language.  This is the first
chance I've had to compare the SAME program written two different ways.  I
am now convinced about HLLs -- well, C anyway.
-- 
Ed Nather
Astronomy Dept, U of Texas @ Austin
{allegra,ihnp4}!{noao,ut-sally}!utastro!nather
nather@astro.AS.UTEXAS.EDU