Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c:5856 comp.sys.ibm.pc:9934
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!phri!dasys1!manes
From: manes@dasys1.UUCP (Steve Manes)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: C compilers: Opinions solicited
Message-ID: <2349@dasys1.UUCP>
Date: 25 Dec 87 08:17:10 GMT
References: <1455@codas.att.com>
Reply-To: manes@dasys1.UUCP (Steve Manes)
Organization: Datamerica Systems, NYC
Lines: 46
Keywords: C, Microsoft, Datalight, Turbo

In article <1455@codas.att.com> karthur@codas.att.com (Kurt_R_Arthur) writes:
>Since the release of Microsoft C version 5 and Turbo C 1.5, I am going to retire
>my old C compiler and purchase one of the following:
>
>	1. Microsoft version 5
>	2. Borland Turbo C version 1.5
>	3. Datalight Optimum C (Version unknown).
>Experiences, comments, statistics, bugs, better prices (if known) are
>appreciated.

I don't know the Datalight compiler nor do I know how library-compatible
it is with the others.  That's an important consideration if you use any
canned commercial or PD C libraries.  MSC and Turbo are the two most
supported with Lattice following closely.

I've got both Turbo and the full MSC 5.0.  I really like Turbo's editor and
its general speed by comparison to MSC.  I also like the in-line assembler
(I know, I know... gross nonstandardization but if portability is an issue
you don't use assembler code anyway).  However, in the first 30 minutes I
discovered that Turbo doesn't like my EGA (a Mitsuba) and anything compiled
with Turbo would crash my machine.  This includes a pre-compiled MicroEMACS
I pulled off some d/l board that I later discovered was compiled using
Turbo.  A friend also had similar trouble on a different EGA board.  That
made Turbo unusable for me since my main development machine has an EGA and
many of my clients do too.  This problem makes Turbo a poor choice
for outside-world development.

MSC provided the most seamless change of environment for me.  It also
includes a wealth of library functions that MSC has needed for a long time
(maybe MS took a cue from Lattice here).  The compiler seems to run a
little faster than 4.0 as do the executables however the execs are a little
fat compared to MSC 4.0.  The only trouble I had with the conversion was
#undefing the toupper and tolower macros if ctype.h is loaded.  Calls like
toupper( getchar() ) will not work properly if the macros are used.  In
fact, I've been unable to get the toupper/lower macros to work with any
function as an argument.

Quick-C is nice for quick 'n dirty programming, like writing a cr/lf
converter, but a pain for anything larger.  I also think it's inferior to
Turbo's editor, ergonomically speaking.

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