Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!purdue!decwrl!ucbvax!NSS.CS.UCL.AC.UK!PVR%bgerug51.earn
From: PVR%bgerug51.earn@NSS.CS.UCL.AC.UK
Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer
Subject: PARSEC's parallel C compiler Par.C ?!?!
Message-ID: <8806170829.AA22577@uk.ac.ox.prg>
Date: 17 Jun 88 09:23:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
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Dear mailing list,
 
I had an interesting discussion wednesday at the Transputer symposium in
Utrecht with someone of the Dutch company PARSEC (not Parsytec !), who's
parallel C compiler is now supported by Parsytec (not Parsec !).  In their
parallel C compiler Par.C the parallel features of occam have been embedded in
the language (par, guarded alt, channel type, ...). Par.C is compatible with
K&R, with the extensions of H&S. It also translates a number of keywords.
 
The latter is more efficient than the use of a runtime library and lots of
function calls (as in 3 L parallel C).
 
Things are also much clearer because the parallel C program, written in Par.C,
is more readable (it looks a bit like occam).
 
There is a datatype channel (CHAN OF ANY), the compiler recognizes the
datatype and thus the number of bytes to send or receive from the context.
If not, a cast operator is required.
 
There is also a timer datatype to access the hardware timers and the
keyword process to set up multiple instances of the same task.
 
The compiler is said to run on a transputer, but also on a PC or a VAX as a
stand-alone toolset.
 
Questions:
---------
 
1) is there anyone using this promising C compiler yet ?
 
2) Any comments, Ian ?
 
--------------------------------------
Parsec Developments can be contacted @
Witte Singel 66,
2311 BM Leiden,
Phone:  +31 71 142 142
TeleFax:+31 71 134 449
 
Patrick