#DICE 2.05
5 messages in this thread
Ron,
DICE 2.05 that is in Lib 1 (and Lib 9) is Matt Dillon's freely
distributable version of his shareware compiler. It appears to be very
well done, and as he states in the doc, it may become a commercial product
in the future. It would be an excellent starting point for someone
interesting in learning/using C but who isn't interested at this time in
making the Manx/SAS decision or spending the money for either one of those
compilers.
The problem with the freely distributable of DICE 2.05 is that it does
not contain the the CBM licensed includes or libraries. So, as is, you
can't really use it to write programs that take advantage of Intuition or
any Amiga specific routines. If what you want to do is limit your writing
totally to interaction with the CLI, it's fine. IF you register DICE ($40)
you will be mailed a full set of disks that include the include files and
needed libraries (Matt Dillon has licensed them for distribution from CBM).
Should you chose to go this route, then I think DICE is an excellent value
for the money. Now that SAS appears to be having user resistance in their
takeover of the Lattice compiler DICE may become a significant competitor
in the Amiga C compiler market.
-sja
Steve –
You speak of user resistance in the SAS takeover of Lattice C – do you
suppose it has anything to do with the two dollar per minute tech support
charge? I got the update flier in the mail a day or two ago, and I couldn't
believe they're getting a 900 number for support. I mean, if their support
lines work like many others I've encountered, users will be out $10-$20
before they even get to talk to a human! They'd better have a
sweet-sounding babe on the other end for that kinda dough 8^)! I seriously
considered formatting my Lattice disks and buying Manx, but since the $40
upgrade fee gets six new disks and a re-worked (interface-wise, anyway)
environment I figgered it was worth it. I just won't ever call tech support
..<grin>
Harry
Harry,
Knowing that the Lattice team did not work on 5.10, but just the SAS
team, and knowing how buggy 5.0 was when it was released before passing it
by the Lattice people, I'm skeptical of getting 5.10. I'll probably get
it. But now is also the time I'm going to upgrade my Manx 3.6 to 5.0B. If
SAS is true to form in their (lack of) quality assurance, they're gonna
make a tidy sum from their $120 an hour support line from people reporting
bugs.
Thanks Steve. One last question; how much disk space should it need?
Ron
Ron,
I really don't know. I unarced it to a 1M VD0: and didn't run out of
space.