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From: gillies@p.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: Mac Development Tools
Message-ID: <104700052@p.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 26 Aug 88 03:33:00 GMT
References: <304@h-three.UUCP>
Lines: 37
Nf-ID: #R:h-three.UUCP:304:p.cs.uiuc.edu:104700052:000:1925
Nf-From: p.cs.uiuc.edu!gillies    Aug 25 22:33:00 1988


>What software tools are there?

There are many resource compilers that read data files in pseudo -
assembly and generate resource files for your application.  ResEdit
lets you edit resources directly.  A few companies have application
generators (user interface generators).  If you write a lot of user
interface stuff, these programs are well worth the money.  Also, there
are at least 3 user-interface code packages, some free, some
commercial (FaceIt).  These give you a "vanilla" window & do simple
stuff with just a handful of procedure calls.

>What are the advantages disadvantages of MPW c/pascal v.s. 3rd party?

The third party languages generally compile very fast.  Code
generation is moderately good, but nowhere near "optimal".  In
particular, LightspeedC compiles at 15,000-48,000 lines per minute
(Mac+/II), which is just phenomenal.  LightspeedC is the best C
compiler for "exploratory programming" I have ever seen, since it will
generally recompile & launch a 1-line change in under 5 seconds!  And
now it is one of the first Mac/C languages with a symbolic debugger.
Lightspeed C's major blind spot is that its make utility ONLY compiles
files -- it won't compile resources, stuff object code into resources,
etc.  This is royal pain for advanced projects (device drivers), and
wastes the compilation speed-advantage.  To solve this problem, buy:

MPW compilers.  These are generally thought to have the best code
generation of all the mac compilers, but only by a small margin.
But it (supposedly) takes about half a minute for the compiler do
anything at all.  So rebuilds are very slow.  But you can extend the
MPW environment with additional tools, something lacking from
LightspeedC (next edition, Pllleeaassse Rich?)


Don Gillies, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Illinois
1304 W. Springfield, Urbana, Ill 61801      
ARPA: gillies@cs.uiuc.edu   UUCP: {uunet,ihnp4,harvard}!uiucdcs!gillies