Info. needed.

[Bob Stout]

In an article of <13 Jun 89 00:59:52 GMT>, (Chuan Su Kuan) writes:

 >Our lab is purchacing C package and is in need of info. on the various
 >C packages available.  Anyone knows of any source that might have helped?
 >
 >(Thus far we had considered Quick C and Turbo C.  We'll be doing 'stuffs'
 >which involved extensive use of I/O, graphics, and lots of calcuation 

Can't EMail from FidoNet, but here goes anyway:

Quick C         Basically a pretty good package at version 2.0 but still
                obviously the "baby brother" in the MS family. Excellent
                integrated environment (if you like that sort of thing), plus
                mouse support and on-line help. Poor paper docs, but this 
                affects tyros more than the experienced. Very good code.

Turbo C         Fastest compile times in the business and very good code.
                Better paper docs than QC, but almost no examples. Like QC, the
                library includes lots of non-standard DOS extensions which can
                be quite useful if used judiciously. If you go with TC, get
                the "Professional Pack" which includes TASM and the excellent
                Turbo Debugger. Caution: Despite producing small executables
                itself, TC and all its support tools are memory hogs!

Microsoft C     Although 5.0 was fairly buggy, the current 5.1 version is the
                industry standard. Generally excellent code, but very slow
                compile times. A workhorse - unexciting but it gets the job 
                done. Caveat: The optimizer is extremely aggresive - avoid 
                full optimization and loop optimization. It's not uncommon for
                the optimizer to break working code.

Zortech C/C++   A modular compiler - the C++ compiler is the C compiler with a
                different preprocesser and parser. Compile times comparable to
                TC (without optimization), and excellent code quality. The C
                compiler with the debugger competes on price with TC, but 
                produces generally better code. Written by the same author  
                (Walter Bright) as the old Datalight C, it's also excellent 
                for embedded control applications. Company support is 
                variable, but the author's available. <Personal favorite>

Aztec C         Another old-timer which excels in embedded control app's. 
                Generates the smallest code in the business. Cross-compilers
                are available for almost anything. Very good code.

Watcom C        The fastest, highest-quality code going, but glacially slow
                compile times. Also the best ANSI compliance around. Caveats:
                Some of its speed is attained by proprietary tricks (e.g. 
                passing arguments in registers where possible) which preclude 
                its use with 3rd party libraries. Also poor in pre-defined
                environment (DOS) specific functions.

High C          If you're using 386's exclusively, or OS/2, or the new i860
                (nee N-10) then consider it. Otherwise, it's a dog.

Mark Williams   Another low-price alternative. Excellent K&R/Unix compatibility
                with no real attempt at ANSI. Generally very good code. Comes
                with uEmacs and a very good debugger.

Mix Power C     Probably not what you want, but the best bargain around - $20
                for a full-blown (mostly) ANSI compiler. What you give up for
                this price is multiple memory models. What you get as a 
                surprise bonus is good to very good code quality plus excellent
                F.P. math op's. Add the debugger, assembler, and library 
                source for under $50, total. If you know someone who wants to 
                learn C, this is the best package going due to its excellent 
                manual which includes a complete tutorial - like buying a good 
                book and geting a compiler for free.