Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mdf From: mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: When will Microsoft give us a *REAL WORLD* C Compiler Message-ID: <13623@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 18 May 88 15:43:29 GMT References: <1466@microsoft.UUCP> Reply-To: mdf@tut.cis.osu-state.edu (Mark D. Freeman) Organization: StrongPoint Systems, Inc.; Columbus, OH. (guest of Ohio State U.) Lines: 53 In <1466@microsoft.UUCP> markro@microsof (or uunet!microsof!markro) writes: >C 5.1 was not >released as a "bug fix" version for C 5.0, but rather as an OS/2 development >compiler. [...] C 5.1 does fix >a number of problems from C 5.0; however, Mr. Frost's statement implies that >these were problems of long standing, when in fact, the most serious problems >(with in-line intrinsics and loop optimizations) could not have existed >in previous versions of the compiler as these feature were added for C 5.0. >This is not to deny that there have been some bugs, even some serious ones, >in our compiler. It would be truly useful if Microsoft would do more than acknowledge that bugs exist. A list of known bugs in versions 4.0, 5.0, and 5.1 would save many of us countless hours trying to figure out whether our problems are caused by our programming errors or Microsoft's compiler bugs. >Finally we would like to say that we are committed to producing high quality, >high performance products and to fixing all problems reported to us in a >timely fashion. Fixing bugs in the next possible release is good. But making patches available when possible would be better. Sending out a bulk mailing to all registered owners of the compiler every two or three months, containing a list of known bugs and work-arounds would be a big help to all the smaller software developers who cannot afford to spend hours hunting through USENET or CompuServe postings in hope of resolving problems. The costs of doing this are minimal when compared to the major boost in goodwill it would generate. Nobody like to admit that a product has bugs. But to avoid telling people about them is wasting thousands of hours of programmer productivity world-wide in exchange for a little embarrassment. This is not an equitable trade-off. > Dave Weil > Project Mgr. > Microsoft C Compiler > > Mark Roberts > Mgr Compiler Technology Group Thank you for responding to the comments made in this forum. Even though your remarks were very general, it is importnat to know that you are paying attention. -- Mark D. Freeman (614) 262-1418 mdf@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu 2440 Medary Avenue ...!cbosgd!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mdf Columbus, OH 43202-3014 Guest account at The Ohio State University