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From: john1233@csd4.milw.wisc.edu.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re: ** Kyan Pascal **
Message-ID: <3482@uwmcsd1.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Nov-87 11:30:36 EST
Article-I.D.: uwmcsd1.3482
Posted: Thu Nov 12 11:30:36 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Nov-87 14:13:48 EST
References: <8711111646.AA00750@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Sender: daemon@uwmcsd1.UUCP
Reply-To: john1233@csd4.milw.wisc.edu.UUCP (Thomas M Johnson)
Organization: University of WI-Milwaukee
Lines: 35

I wouldn't go out of my way to say Kyan Pascal is great. It has MANY more
faults than you give it credit for.

#1 on my mind is speed. I ran the prime number benchmark and here are
the results as best as I can remember them.

Action!            5.2 sec.
MMG BASIC compiler 5.3 sec.
Kyan Pascal        8 minutes

I'm not sure of the exact numbers but that is roughly the way it worked out.
Next, your are 100% correct, the Kyan editor stinks!!! enough said about that.

Unless you have a RAMdisk, the Kyan compiler is too hard to work with.
After your are done editing, you must load the compiler. It is huge.
Even with my TRAK drive in turbo mode, it still takes a while. The give it
the filename to compiler and to get a soda because it take quite some time
to get its job done. If there are errors, you shut off the machine and
load the Action! cart for an editor and start over (see above paragraph)

Those are the bad things. Here are the good ones.
Kyan Pascal is a standard Pascal. All normal keywords are implemented.
And (with include files) some extras like graphics commands and
random access files.

It has a built in assembler. Not the kind where you must get out your
caclulator to figure out BNE or BEQ jumps but it has labels.

It has its runtime file on the disk. You need the file LIB on the D1:
to run the program but it can be appended onto the file.

The manual is very good, it is a short tutorial of Pascal.

	      A little more than my 2 cents worth but it had to be said
					 Tom