Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!dalcs!garfield!john13
From: john13@garfield.UUCP (John Russell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Choosing an Amiga C Compiler
Message-ID: <4414@garfield.UUCP>
Date: 21 Jan 88 04:07:22 GMT
References: <945@aluxp.UUCP> <3168@cbmvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: john13@garfield.UUCP (John Russell)
Distribution: na
Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's
Lines: 39

In article <3168@cbmvax.UUCP> daveh@cbmvax.UUCP (Dave Haynie) writes:
>
>>     It  would be used mostly to compile and modify the sources posted
>>     to USENET.
>
>Amiga sources seem about split between the two, though I've rarely found
>it difficult to get things running under Lattice.  

(My mail message to the original poster bounced, but I won't burden the net
 with it since it's all been said before anyway.)

Just one nit to pick here -- if you are a novice, the Manx error-checking
is much friendlier and more helpful than that of Lattice (although it's been
a few versions since I looked at Lattice).

When I started, virtually none of the sources posted to the net could be
compiled without a single change under Lattice. Much of this was due to
not eliminating warning messages, lack of compilation info such as special
compiler switches and such, and highly customized programming environments,
but a lot was also caused by compiler pickiness; I think (famous last words)
Lattice used to generate tons of cryptic and unhelpful error messages in
common situations like line splitting due to either 80-column wrapping in
posting or expressions like

...(struct IntuitionBase *)
	OpenLibrary(...

No doubt the situation has improved, but it's best not to assume so. If you
are a novice, as I was at the time, good error-trapping is vital. Especially
if the program compiles with many warnings, then doesn't work properly.

John

PS Manx had it's share of oddities early on, like the Guru that used to occur
during compilation of PopCLI when it tried to do structure assignment...
-- 
"Am I dreaming, or was there a show on this weekend called 'Jimmy the Greek:
 Live at the Apollo'?"
					-- David Letterman