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From: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo L. Schwab)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: C Compiler bug?
Message-ID: <7481@well.UUCP>
Date: 27 Oct 88 10:41:06 GMT
References: <7880002@hpuamsa.UUCP> <oXMI82y00Uka4CCa8g@andrew.cmu.edu> <3418@leo.UUCP>
Reply-To: ewhac@well.UUCP (Leo 'Bols Ewhac' Schwab)
Organization: The FOX Network.  For people who just can't get enough bad TV.
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Quote: "'Just try trusting me' -- that's weak even by his standards."  -- Avon

In article <3418@leo.UUCP> harald@leo.UUCP ( Harald Milne) writes:
> [I HATE MANX I HATE MANX I HATE MANX....]
>
	Well, I still like Manx.  As Perry Kivolowitz said in a Transactor
article, the reason I use Manx is not because of the relative merits of the
compilers.  I use Manx based on the relative merits of the compilers 2.5
years ago.  In other words, inertia.

	Two and a half years ago, Lattice was utter dreck.  It had two
seperately invoked passes (which I still disagree with), was big, was slow,
had bugs ('register' didn't work at all), was slow, and was cumbersome to use
("df1:lc1 -idf1:include/ -idf1:include/lattice/ foo.c" (and before you say
it, 'lc' never worked right, and I refused to use batch files on a
floppy-only machine with 512K)).

	Manx, on the other hand, was remarkably similar to UNIX, which was
my first exposure to C.  The compiler was called 'cc', the assembler was
called 'as', the command line syntax for both programs was similar to UNIX,
it came with 'make' which also mimicked the UNIX make facility, and also
came with a bunch of other goodies which derive from UNIX, like 'z'.  So I
started using Manx, and still do.

	The reason I continue to use Manx is largely one of inertia.  I have
no compelling reason to move to the new Lattice.  Manx is still perfectly
quick, generates reasonable code, generates *assembly* source which I can
edit, and I still use 'z' every day to write my programs.

	The interesting part of all this is that John Toebes has, out of the
kindness of his heart, helped us at Silent Software to meet a deadline with
Disney and Amiga Roger Rabbit.  Nearly everyone inside SS has switched to
Lattice, and Reichart is encouraging me to do so as well.  I insist that I
don't need to; he says that my life will be more wonderful if I do.

	Speaking as someone who still uses 1.2, still uses DBW VT100 2.1,
and only knows 'vi', I must admit that I could probably do with a great deal
of updating.  But I'm disinclined to do so, since my productivity would go
to zero while I re-learned everything.  How to solve this problem....

	Back to the central point:  Please don't flame Manx.  Yes, there are
bugs.  Yes, they have been there a long time; this is why Jim Goodnow II is
busily working on Manx 4.0, which will be ANSI compliant.  No doubt Manx 4.0
will beat Lattice 4.0, which will make Lattice improve its compiler again,
which will make Manx improve its compiler....  We all win in this war.

	In any case, Manx has served me exceedingly well.  I like it.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
Leo L. Schwab -- The Guy in The Cape	INET: well!ewhac@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
 \_ -_		Recumbent Bikes:	UUCP: pacbell > !{well,unicom}!ewhac
O----^o	      The Only Way To Fly.	      hplabs / (pronounced "AE-wack")
"Work FOR?  I don't work FOR anybody!  I'm just having fun."  -- The Doctor