Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!orchid!rbharding
From: rbharding@orchid.waterloo.edu (Ron Harding)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.8bit
Subject: Re: wanted - basic compiler
Summary: Deep Blue C pros and cons
Keywords: Deep Blue C, DBC
Message-ID: <706@orchid.waterloo.edu>
Date: 10 Apr 89 00:51:47 GMT
References: <1168@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM> <2652@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> <15887@cup.portal.com> <3201@ihlpm.ATT.COM> <510@sky.COM> <6691@c3pe.UUCP>
Reply-To: rbharding@orchid.waterloo.edu (Ron Harding)
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario
Lines: 39

In article <6691@c3pe.UUCP> charles@c3pe.UUCP (Charles Green) writes:
>By the way, has anyone gotten either Deep Blue C or InterLisp/65, available
>from Antic Software?

   I've used Deep Blue C considerably, since I have nothing better.  I bought my
copy back when APX still existed.  I just recently bought Deep Blue Secrets from Antic. 

    - It is a rewrite of Ron Cain's Small C.  This means:
       - no structures or unions
       - no arrays of dimension greater than 1
       - no floating point numbers
       - functions can't return anything but 16-bit integer
       - no sizeof operator (useless without structures anyway)
       - no typecasting (not enough data types to need it anyway)
       - nothing fancy like register or static variables
       - other stuff missing too.
    - It produces fairly slow code.  This is understandable, if you know how
      its runtime engine works.
    - It compiles at an ungodly slow speed.

To be fair, here are some advantages (as compared to C/65, at least)+
    - It doesn't need line numbers.  OSS loves line-numbers.  They're needed for
      Mac/65, and C/65.  What a waste.
    - It takes lower-case input.  C/65 doesn't.  What a pitiful waste.
    - I haven't run into any major-ugly bugs.
    - Source code is(possibly was) available, in Deep Blue Secrets, from Antic.

    - It comes with fairly complete libraries, including routines for graphics,
      sound, and player-missile graphics.

    In general, I've been satisfied with it, given the limitations of the 6502.
I've used it to write a number of utilities for SpartaDOS.  I tried to do a text
editor, but it was just too slow
 for that. 

   Given the choice between Deep Blue and C/65, I'd choose DBC.  I can't compare
to Action! since I've never used it.  I get the impression that I should.

                                   Ron Harding.