An MS-Dos C compiler for $49.95 ?

[John Ruschmeyer]

] Looking throught the new PC-World, I came across an add for a C compiler
]from a company called Ecosoft Inc. It was billed as a full C compiler for
]$49.95.
]
]The address of the company:
]
]		Ecosoft Inc.
]		6413 N. College Avenue
]		Indianapolis, IN 46220
]
]		(317) 255-6476
]
]Has anyone out there heard of this company or, better yet, purchased this
]compiler? .......
]
]I am considering this product, but thought I'd check it out first.

Well, the response to the above has been overwhelming. Several people have
asked me to post a summary of responses, so here goes:

===========================================================================
From: ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!shor (Melinda Shore)

EcoSoft has been around for some time now.  The president of the company is
Jack Purdum, the fellow who wrote those books on C programming (one is a
tutorial, the other is called something like "The C Programmer's Library").
His first compiler was for the Z-80 and got terrible reviews, so he
tightened it up and now it's probably the most solid of the CP/M compilers.
He also wrote Eco-Stat, a so-so statistical package for CP/M and MS-DOS
systems.  He came out with the MS-DOS compiler about a year ago.  The price
on both packages was $295, until he dropped the price several months ago.  I
think the MS-DOS package is probably a better deal, since you need MACRO-80
or the SLR assembler-linker package to generate object code from the CP/M
compiler.  It's my guess, though, that the MS-DOS compiler doesn't generate
assembly code (which is probably less of an issue for MS-DOS than it is for
CP/M).

I would think that it's *certainly* worth $49.95.  (BTW, I bet you can get
it a little cheaper through the Programmer's Shop in Massachusetts.  That
way you can get on their mailing list, too.)

===========================================================================
From: vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!reed!rosalia

Hello,
    My brother bought their product which ran on an Epson QX-10
running a Z80 and CP/M. It is a good C compiler, and does all the UNIX
stuff and libraries. It also runs fast, his only complaint was that
it took a while to compile. I would reccomend it. So long
					Mark Galassi
				    ...!tektronix!reed!rosalia

===========================================================================
From: John Lowry <topaz!seismo!BBNZ.ARPA!jlowry>

	I  have had the ECO-C compiler for about 6 weeks now and am very
    pleased with it.  The worst complaint I have is that a  source  line
    that extends beyond the 80th column is truncated and makes it barf.

	Some notes:

	o   There   is   an   executable  file  for  each  pass  of  the
	    compilation.  ie. you can run each pass separately.

	o   comes with an assembler or you can use MASM.

	o   uses LINK, so the objects are compatible.

	o   You will want an editor.

	o   Compilation times are about the same as other  C  compilers.
	    I  don't  have  any  benchmark data, but it seems to compile
	    faster than my Mark Williams compiler.

	o   ONLY supports small model (64k data, 64k code)

	o   supports all the machine specific  calls  (video  and  other
            ports) and supports calls to DOS and BIOS.

	o   This  is  a  very strict compiler, no sloppy coding allowed.
	    Stuff that MWC compiled or warned about would not compile on
	    ECO-C.   Examination  revealed in every case that I had done
	    some 'fuzzy' coding.

	o   No cascading of error messages.  It barfs on the first  one.
	    Error  messages  are  informative  with  an  english  phrase
	    describing the error, error code, line  number,  file  name,
	    position  on  the  line  (14th  character) and the character
	    itself.

	o   #include messages can only be nested 2 deep.   One  'bug'  I
	    found  is  when  I declared a structure in one include file,
	    and defined an extern structure to be of the  same  type  as
	    the first, but in another include file, it barfed.  Solution
	    was to place both references in the same file.

		include file 1

			struct DECIMAL ....

			#include <file 2>

		include file 2

			extern struct DECIMAL dc;  (hates this because
                                                    it doesn't know what 
                                                    DECIMAL is.)

	o   tokens can be up to 80 characters long, upper and lower case
	    are differentiated.

	o   I  have  a two floppy system with DOS 2.1.  The installation
	    for floppies (which can be redefined) does not allow  enough
	    room  for  the system on drive 1.  (it does on DOS 1.x) They
	    reccomend 256k on  the  system,  I  have  320k,  so  I  will
	    probably make use of a RAM disk.  (I'm still waiting for the
	    hard disk prices to fall further.)

	o   There is an installation for hard disk (which you  can  also
	    modify)

	o   Documentation is good, but not a tutorial on C.  By the way,
	    the author (Jack Purdum) also has written two  books  on  C,
	    one  a tutorial and the other a library.  The error messages
	    from the compiler reference page numbers in the book,  which
	    you can buy in a bookstore.

	All  in  all,  I am very pleased with this product.  It is not a
    super powerful complier, but satisfactory for most  needs.   If  you
    are  doing heavy stuff, then spend the money on a "better" compiler.
    This is definately in the spirit of TURBO Pascal, but much better in
    its first incarnation than TURBO was.  I also got the source for the
    libraries, it is worth it, especially if you are  a  hacker.   There
    are  about  10  include files with the compiler.  Reccomendation: GO
    FOR IT, and have fun!

	By the way, I sent them a  personal  check,  and  stuff  arrived
    about  10  days  later, indicating that they really move it out once
    the check clears.  I also got information on the C Users  Group  and
    other product info with the package.

=========================================================================
From: Peter Ludemann <princeton!ihnp4!alberta!ubc-vision!ubc-cs!ludemann>

I'd appreciate hearing from you about what you find out.
In the meantime, I'm using deSmet C.
It compiles quite quickly (if you have a RAM-disk, I'd
say it's nearly as fast as the old Turbo-Pascal).
The debugger is somewhat buggy - without it, the
price is US$100 or so.
I've been very pleased with the companies response
to my bug reports.

=========================================================================
From: vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hp-pcd!hplabs!qantel!intelca!cem

I have used the CP/M version and found it a solid product. I guess
I will have to get this one too so that I can port all of my software 
to my PC.

--Chuck

=========================================================================

Well, the results seems to speak for themselves. 

I should mention that one person suggested waiting to see about Borland's
promised Turbo C which is due out later this year.

As for me, I will probably order a copy of the Ecosoft C. (As soon as I pay
my car insurance, that is.... :-) )


-- 
Name:		John Ruschmeyer
US Mail:	Monmouth College, W. Long Branch, NJ 07764
Phone:		(201) 222-6600 x366
UUCP:		...!vax135!petsd!moncol!john	...!princeton!moncol!john
						   ...!pesnta!moncol!john
Ingredients:
		Carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid,
		natural flavorings, caffeine