Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!ames!lll-tis!oodis01!uplherc!utah-gr!utah-cs!thomson
From: thomson@utah-cs.UUCP (Rich Thomson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Cheap languages/compilers (was Re: Shareware)
Summary: There are cheap languages available
Message-ID: <5541@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: 8 Jun 88 19:21:16 GMT
References: <608@myrias.UUCP> <1849@hubcap.UUCP>
Reply-To: thomson@cs.utah.edu.UUCP (Rich Thomson)
Organization: Oasis Technologies
Lines: 37

In article <1849@hubcap.UUCP> disd@hubcap.UUCP (Gary Heffelfinger) writes:
>I have not sent in a contribution for Draco [but] I ... appreciate it a great
>deal. A compiler, even one that's "non-standard"  (Read, "not C") could do well
>if priced right.  The compilers on the Amiga market are all quite
>expensive for the casual programmer who's grown tired of AmigaBasic.

You should check out the freely distributable C compiler that someone on the
net here (sorry, I've forgotten who) is working on.  Last I heard they just
had floating point bugs to work out.  The compiler now compiles itself and many
small test programs correctly.  This person has taken on a huge problem and
made significant progress in a short time.

In addition there are other commercially available languages for < $100.  I
have seen JForth priced as low as $59 and there are also several PD forth
implementations available on FISH disks.  Although these PD imps. don't allow
you to create stand-alone code (as far as I know), it is possible to extend
them to allow for this capability.  Anyway, you could try out the flavor of
FORTH before you ever bought a commercial package, at least.

There are other languages that are in a similar price range; Gary mentioned
that he programs in TDI Modula-2.  I think the M2 compilers are in a similar
price range.  Now if you want a full-blown language implementation for < $100,
I think you're asking for a little much.  But either JForth or Multi-Forth
do a good job with slightly different flavors of FORTH.  If anyone is interested
in hearing about FORTH programming specifically on the Amiga, I maintain a
mailing list on the subject; send an addition request to:

	amiga-forth-request@cs.utah.edu (currently at issue 16)

>Gary Heffelfinger   ---   Employed by, but not the mouthpiece of 
>                          Clemson University.
>---===      Amiga.  The computer for the best of us.     ===---

-- 
Rich Thomson, Oasis Technologies, 3190 MEB, U of U, Salt Lake City, Utah  84112
(801) 584-4555  thomson@cs.utah.edu  {bellcore,ihnp4,ut-sally}!utah-cs!thomson
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