Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mcnc!duke!gleicher
From: gleicher@duke.cs.duke.edu (Michael Gleicher)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: LightSpeed C gripes
Keywords: LightSpeed C no good, Mac 2, Gnu Chess
Message-ID: <10928@duke.cs.duke.edu>
Date: 14 Jan 88 16:51:03 GMT
Organization: Duke University CS Dept.; Durham, NC
Lines: 68
Posted: Thu Jan 14 11:51:03 1988

I recently purchased LightSpeed C (2.11, upgraded to 2.15 from over the
net upgrades), and I must say it is one of the poorest products that I
have seen for a computer.

1) The documentation is awful. In general, I have not seen a well documented
	product on the Mac (I'm used to the PC world). Most of the time
	it isn't too important as Mac programs are easy to use. Not so
	with something as complex as a C development system.
	All the lightspeed manual does is say how great the compiler is,
	how it is the ultimate environment, how much better it ill make
	programmers.
	The library reference is incomplete, and doesn't say little things
	like which headers & libraries you must include.

2) The editor sucks and you're stuck with it.
	The editor is so bad it isn't worth mentioning. Little things
	like a key to go to the end of a line, clear to end of line.
	When writing code, I need my hands for typing, not to do everything
	with the mouse.
	I thought that under Multi-Finder I'd have MicroEmacs 3.8m (a
	good editor with the mac interface) or some other thing running
	side-by-side. But this won't work because lightspeed keeps everything
	in memory.

3) The system is extremely limited by memory constraints.
	If I wanted to be limited to small code/data segments I'd have
	saved $3000 dollars and bought a 386 PC. But I want to be able to
	run Big programs on my Mac 2. I don't want to see Code Segment
	too large, although this is bearable considering the Mac loader.
	What isn't acceptable is seeing "Data Segment too Big".

4) The system doesn't really handle Multi-Finder.
	Under multifinder, I keep getting "Out Of Memory" when I try to
	compile programs (the program is about 2800 lines long in one
	file). Big programs won't run either.

5) The system doesn't support the 68881
	No gripe here. I knew that I was getting this when I bought it.

6) I'm not sure how robust the compiler is.
	The compiler seems to choke on some simple syntax things.
	for example:
		unsigned Book[][50];	doesn't work 
			or
		extern unsigned Book[][50];
		Book = (void *) malloc(...)	gives a bizzare error

7) The error messages are useless.
	The compiler stops on the first error. It gives this obnoxious
	box to click in. The messages aren't too useful. It doesn't show you
	exactly where the error is.

Admittedly, I don't know the alternatives. I'm used to working on the PC,
but comparing lightspeed to TurboC (turboC costs half as much), we're not
talking the same league in product quality.

Also, what I've been trying to do is to take a UNIX/MSDOS program
(GnuChess) and get it to run on the Macintosh. This is probably not
what lightspeed was meant for. 
But GnuChess should be easy compared to the next on I want to try.

I don't at all regret making the jump into the 20th century and buying a 
Mac ][. I do regret wasting the $95 bucks on LightSpeed C.

Michael Lee Gleicher			(-: If it looks like I'm wandering
	Duke University			(-:    around like I'm lost . . .
E-Mail: gleicher@cs.duke.edu)(or uucp	(-:
Or P.O.B. 5899 D.S., Durham, NC 27706	(-:   It's because I am!