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From: lishka@uwslh.UUCP (Christopher Lishka)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.cbm
Subject: C-power information for a 128
Message-ID: <243@uwslh.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 29-May-87 10:21:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: uwslh.243
Posted: Fri May 29 10:21:17 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 31-May-87 03:10:46 EDT
Distribution: na
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison, State Hygiene Lab
Lines: 66


	I have the oppurtunity to get a C-128 cheap, and since I can't afford
the awe-inspiring Amiga yet (even at ~$650 or ~$500), I am jumping at the 
chance to get ahold of this 2 megahertz machine.  Right now I own a C-64 with
an older version of C-Power, and although I really the the Operating 
'Environment' provided, I am a little turned off by the incredible number of
bugs and inconsistencies with UNIX C.

	My questions then are the following:

	1) How good of a value is the C-128 C-Power compiler?  I am interested
	   in it mainly for the 2 megahertz operation in 80-column mode, as 
	   what I want to do with it does not require graphics.  I know that
	   the benchmarks for C-Power aren't that impressive, but it is all
	   I can afford, and it IS only a two megahertz 6502-modifaction.

	2) Can the 128 version generate code for the C-64?  I know that the
	   the instruction set is the same, and it does not seem unreasonable
	   that the 128 would work with the C-64, considering that C-Power
	   is available for the latter anyway.  That only leaves the differences
	   in internal architecture.  On the same line, how well does C-Power
	   work in 80-column as well as 40-column mode?  I am really interested
	   in 80-column editting, but every now and then I will want to do
	   graphics with the VIC chip, requiring the normal 40-column mode.

	3) How fast is it in terms of disk accessing, including compilation
	   time?  I use C-Power on the C-64 with an Epyx Fastload cartridge
	   (a marvelous piece of hardware), and the speed difference is very
	   helpful (I don't even mind typing 'disk u;' after each major
	   operation).  Does the compilation on the C-128 go faster?  Given
	   the expanded memory inside the machine (even though it bank
	   switches), can BOTH the compiler and source code be resident at
	   one time, requiring fewer disk accesses?  This is also important,
	   because I plan to write a nice, large program (very modular), and
	   any increase in compile/link time would be very nice.

	4) How compatible are the library functions with the ones in the 
	   C-64?  I know there must be differences becaused of the internal
	   layouts of each machine.  Does C-Power provide routines for BOTH
	   machines in the 128 version (cross-compilation to the C-64), and
	   if not, can I get ahold of a decent set for the C-64 that will
	   work with the C-128 version?

	5) Lastely, how bad are the bugs?  I am a Junior in the Comp-Sci
	   Undergrad department, and since my last course dealt with Operating
	   Systems, we programmed heavily in C.  Now I have tried to write
	   the same, modular C code on C-Power-64 that I did in my class,
	   and boy did it crash, crash, crash!  It seems that C-Power could
	   not understand the many very helpful typedef's to pointer structures
	   that we had used HEAVILY in my class.  Since I am going to be 
	   writing something close to a minor coputer language, I NEED those
	   very helpful typoedef's.

	Thanks for any information that anyone may be able to provide me.
Please E-Mail me; if anyone else is interested in the answers to the above,
E-Mail me also.  I really like these low-level Commodore machines (even though
they are now a little outdated as compared to the Amiga), and would not mind
owning a C-128 (with 80-columns) at all, given my limited budget.

						-Chris Lishka


-- 
Chris Lishka                    /lishka@uwslh.uucp
Wisconsin State Lab of Hygiene <-lishka%uwslh.uucp@rsch.wisc.edu
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