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From: haitex@pnet01.cts.com (Wade Bickel)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Anyone seen a good Amiga Pascal lately ?  Why not Modula-2?
Message-ID: <2688@crash.cts.com>
Date: 16 Mar 88 16:16:20 GMT
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Organization: People-Net [pnet01], El Cajon CA
Lines: 56

ross@swan.ulowell.edu (Ross Miller) writes:
>In article <2652@crash.cts.com> haitex@pnet01.cts.com (Wade Bickel) writes:
>
>... lots of religious (my compiler is better than yours deleted ).
>>		I noticed you left out my references to Modula-2's seperate
>>	compilation facilities.  This is feature C clearly cannot match.
>>	Seperate compiliation in C requires programmer attention to a
>>	tremendously higher degree than in Modula-2.  ALL my programs use
>>	seperate compilation.  It's almost as easy as useing #include.
>
>I can't let this stand.  I had the joy of taking a working 800 line C
>program and porting it to a Modula-II.  Two weeks later, the C program
>took 2 days to write, and 1200 lines I had it working in Modula-II.
>Most of that time was spent with dealing with the seperate compilation
>facilities.  In C you write your routine and link.  In M-II you need
>definition and implementation modules.  This takes time to write and
>is a pain.  Not to mention if you get a garbage Modula compiler and
>it does things like truncates these module names to 12 characters, or
>enforces that module names match file names.  Good compilers won't do
>this, but the problem does exist in some.  
>	Modula's seperate compilation facilities, or modules, rot.  They
>are simple, but annoying and tedious.  I don't need to waste my time
>on data protection for small projects that suit C well, and I will
>use Ada if forced into an Algol upgrade that requires packages or

          Don't blame me because your using a cheapy compiler and don't know
what your doing.

          In Benchmark module names can be any length (or at least VERY big)
you please.  To create a definition module you just open a second editor
window and cut and paste the needed Procedure headers and such to the second
file.  It couldn't be easier.

          Now consider the advantages.  Once youve set up a .DEF module and
compiled it and the rest of your program, you are free to change the code in
the .MOD modules without having to recompile any others.  If you have 20,000
lines of source, broken into 20 1000 line modules, in most situations you will
be able to compile your program 20 times faster than using normal include file
methodologies.

          An 800 line program is not a serious work, and using a weak complier
to boot makes your opinion even less meaningfull.  Why were you using
definition modules at all?  The are optional!;

          Get a copy of Benchmark, learn to use the editor, and READ a
quaility text on M2, and you might change your opinion (though I doubt it).


                                                        Thanks,


                                                                Wade.

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