Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mcvax!cernvax!ethz!solaris!wyle From: wyle@solaris.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle) Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2 Subject: Re: Modula 2 for the Sun 3 - summary of responses Message-ID: <467@solaris.UUCP> Date: 25 Jul 88 07:18:28 GMT References: <1501@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> Reply-To: wyle@ethz.UUCP (Mitchell Wyle) Organization: SOT Sun Cluster, ETH Zuerich Lines: 74 In article <1501@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk> jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Mr Jack Campin) writes: > >I posted a request for information about Modula-2 compilers for the Sun 3. > * One person liked Sun's own compiler a LOT, saying their support was That person was I. > excellent, it was a mature and pretty bugfree product, it did > cross-calling, had fantastic libraries, had a makefile generator, > and had built-in dbxtool support. It has extensions beyond Wirth, > which can safely be ignored. The person who wrote it is now at > Oregon Software (see below). The person who wrote the compiler is now at Oregon. The person who wrote the review is at the ETH. The beyond-Wirth extensions might be useful if your project wants to use special features of Sun OS/hardware. >We haven't made a decision yet (even on whether we want to use Modula at all). If I were developing a serious product on Suns, I'd probably stick to C; teaching in an environment where Modula-2 is known requires a M2 compiler. Sun's is very good for the job. (I won't expound on that point in this paragraph. ;-) >ACE and Oregon both look very attractive, maybe with ACE having the edge. (It >looks from ACE's description that their compiler and UKC's `ups', the best >debugger on the planet, could be made to interwork with a bit of hacking. >If someone were to make that happen I might even try to *like* Modula). dbxtool is ok as well, especially with mouse/graphical/event-driven code. >One point that mystified me is why Modula should need special make and version >control gubbins, as Sun, ACE and Oregon all provide. Why can't the general >purpose ones - SCCS, nmake, and friends - hack it? I was probably not clear as to this point. There are no "special gubbins." Sun's compiler has support for all of the general-purpose tools you mention, including SCCS, nmake, makemake, and interfaces to C, fortran, pascal, etc. The manual explains these and many other topics in a clear, concise manner. I learned sccs from the m2 manual. The make-file generator m2mg is very helpful for students who don't understand the intricacies of make. They just say m2mg and then make. They don't have to learn make first. In addition to a fine product, the Sun compiler has another thing going for it: support from the hardware vendor. Upgrades to the OS won't break the compiler and leave you in the lurch until a different vendor massages their product. I expect the 2.1 release (for Sun OS 4.0) of the compiler (which is supposed to have a much better optomizer and fpp support) THIS week. The tape is already in Zuerich. That's service. I'm embarrased to admit this (even though it wasn't my code) but I once e-mailed sun Mt. View megabytes of modula-2 source, complaining about a bug in the compiler. The bug was in the code. The m2 guy at Sun fixed the bug in the M2 source. That's service. That m2 guy is now at Oregon, but Sun continues their commitment to the M2 product and their support. I could ramble on for pages on this topic, and will do so in private e-mail if anyone is interested. I wanted to clear up a few points, namely that there are no "special gubbins," that I am not Chuck, that there is good SCCS support, that the extensions are useful but Sun_OS-specific, and that Sun service is excellent, an important factor. >ARPA: jack%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk USENET: jack@cs.glasgow.uucp -Mitch -- -Mitchell F. Wyle wyle@ethz.uucp Institut fuer Informatik wyle%ifi.ethz.ch@relay.cs.net ETH Zentrum 8092 Zuerich, Switzerland +41 1 256-5237