Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!hacgate!ashtate!dbase!awd
From: awd@dbase.A-T.COM (Alastair Dallas)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Clipper
Summary: Clipper is a good compiler
Message-ID: <438@dbase.A-T.COM>
Date: 20 Feb 90 20:04:46 GMT
References: <22844@usc.edu>
Organization: Ashton Tate Development Center Glendale, Calif.
Lines: 24

In article <22844@usc.edu>, atieu@skat.usc.edu (Anthony Tieu) writes:
> Need a review on Clipper, the dBASE compiler. Does it really
> compile dBASE code into EXE files without modifications? How
> is it in support, documentation, bugs, etc.? Any experiences,
> good or bad?
> 

This is another message in my series entitled "Trust me; my mind is not
captive to my employer" :-).  I've developed several real world applications
in Clipper and I can highly recommend it.  Of course, I'm a C programmer
so I'm used to edit-compile-link cycles.  The language is essentially
dBASE, but Clipper has added lots of incompatible extensions that are
really nifty but which keep you from using the dBASE interpreter for
debugging.  Clipper is typically much faster than dBASE III PLUS, but
Fox continues to win most benchmarks (and, wordfromoursponsor, dBASE IV
is much faster than III+, too).  The main problem with Clipper is that
the .exe files are minimum 150K or so.

Clipper is a mature product, well supported, and I can recommend it
wholeheartedly for applications development.  Someday soon, Ashton-Tate
will offer a Professional Compiler that will be superior in several
ways, but until then, I give Clipper high marks.

/alastair/