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From: braner@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (braner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: ACTION, C compilers, and ROM cartridges
Message-ID: <1881@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Date: Fri, 19-Dec-86 00:28:48 EST
Article-I.D.: batcompu.1881
Posted: Fri Dec 19 00:28:48 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 19-Dec-86 07:06:06 EST
Reply-To: braner@batcomputer.UUCP (braner)
Organization: Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY
Lines: 24
Summary: Obsolete in this age of cheap, plentiful RAM

[Question: what's "akward" about C syntax?]

In response to postings about C compilers and about ACTION:

Programs in ROM are not any faster than programs in RAM.  They just
don't need to be loaded from disk.  In the case of a program you use
repeatedly in one session (e.g. editor, compiler, linker) you only
need to load it ONCE, into RAMDISK.  There is a very limited number
of ROMs you can plug into your ST at once, but it is easy to boot
various disks.  Therefore it is my view that in most cases those
cartridges are obsolete.  Their current use is for a sceme of copy-
protection (ugh: "we trust you SO LITTLE that we won't even SELL you
a disk"),  and also for turnkey diskless systems (e.g. an ST set up
as a dumb terminal).

About 10 months ago Aztec told me they did not plan (then) a port
of their compiler to the ST.  So they've had a late start.  Too
bad, since their's may be the best of the ones on the Mac.

If you want a FAST C compiler, try Megamax on a RAM disk - it isn't
much slower than Lightspeed C, and is available NOW on the ST.  Now
if they had only used the FP package that's used in Absoft FORTRAN...

- Moshe Braner