Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!think!ames!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!ucsd!ucbvax!decwrl!labrea!glacier!jbn
From: jbn@glacier.STANFORD.EDU (John B. Nagle)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2
Subject: Re: JPI Modula-2
Message-ID: <17634@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: 17 Aug 88 06:12:09 GMT
References: <3740005@wdl1.UUCP>
Reply-To: jbn@glacier.UUCP (John B. Nagle)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 30


     I have TopSpeed Modula-2, from Jensen and Partners, and am using it
to generate code for downloading into a CuBIT all-CMOS V40-based single-board
computer.  With about twenty lines of modification to the run-time system
(for which source is available for $50), I was able to make this work.
This is a rather specialized application, but one which few mainstream
compiler vendors support at all.  This product has sufficient tools to make
it possible.  Some familiarity with 808x assembler is required for such
embedded systems work.  But once the startup routines are working, 
it should be possible to do everything else in Modula-2.  

     Those with more mundane applications should be able to use this
system with no difficulty.  On a PC, everything works out of the box.

     The compiler appears generally acceptable.  It compiles fast, produces
few spurious diagnostics, generates reasonable code, and comes with a
Turbo-type environment.  Separate compilation and automatic make are
properly supported.  Graphics and windowing packages are provided, but are
mutually exclusive.  The run-time checks work properly and interact properly
with the development environment.  In general, a nice package, superior
to, say, Lattice C in usability and polish.

    There is no debugger as yet, not that you should need one given a
solid Modula-2 system.  But one has been announced for the fall.

    It's a cheap system.  Under $100 for the compiler alone, $50 extra
for the library sources, embedded-system tools, and such.  Educational
bulk discounts are available to obtain prices comparable to Logitech's.

					John Nagle