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The Amiga Forum · Modula-2

#Modula-2 recommendation

9 messages in this thread

#94108From: Winston M. LlamasNov 18, 1987 10:59 PM

Does anybody have any preferences for Modula-2 implementations on the Amiga – the Benchmark Modula-2, Interface Technologies' Modula-2 or TDIs? Thanks Winston

#94149From: John DraperNov 19, 1987 3:00 AM

Winston, I am only familiar with TDI and Benchmark, and prefer Benchmark by a wide margin. It's relatively bug free, fast, and friendly, giving you a very 'Turbo Pascal-like' interface, menaing that you can compile, correct errors, link, and test run from the editor. Regards, Larry.

#94236From: Winston M. LlamasNov 19, 1987 6:28 PM

Larry, I had Interface Technologies' Modula-2 for the PC – I wasn't very happy with it but since the Amiga version seems to have been developed in Europe, the programmers involved in this new product might actually have done a good job. In any case, does Oxxi still sell Benchmark Modula-2? Thanks, Winston

#94280From: John DraperNov 19, 1987 9:49 PM

Winston, There is a dispute over the distribution rights to Benchmark. Perhaps the best person to ask would be eon Frenkel, who frequents the forum, and usually drops in to CO for Saturday night conferences. Regards, Larry.

#94301From: Steve FaiwiszewskiNov 19, 1987 11:48 PM

Interface Technologies' PC compiler is a completely different animal. – Steve –

#94514From: Winston M. LlamasNov 21, 1987 11:46 AM

By saying that the Amiga version of IT's Modula-2 is a different animal – I assume you mean that it is of a higher order. In any case, how does execution speed of the resulting programs compare between Benchmark Modula-2 and Interface Technologies' Modula-2? Thanks, Winston

#94748From: Steve FaiwiszewskiNov 22, 1987 4:04 PM

By saying that the Amiga version of IT's M2 is a different animal from their MS-DOS version, I mean just that. I know it was done by different I know that it's not the same code ported over and it looks quite different. It was even probably coded by different people. I make no other comparison as I've never used IT's MSDOS compiler. Execution speed of the two compilers (Benchamrk & IT) is quite similar (i.e. no significant difference either way). – Steve –

#94773From: Winston M. LlamasNov 22, 1987 5:43 PM

Well, I guess I'll have to chose between the two. I didn't have much luck with the IBM PC version of the IT Modula-2 compiler – never did get a version of it that worked properly (after several updates). Thanks for the info. Winston

#94300From: Steve FaiwiszewskiNov 19, 1987 11:47 PM

You should see a review of both Benchmark and the Interface Technologies compilers in the pages of Amazing Computing soon. I've worked with all three compilers. I can safely say that the worst one is the TDI package. Benchmark has a much nicer user interface (in my opinion anyway), but the IT compiler has superior exception and termination handling, and can easily be used from the workbench. Both compilers are one-pass, and pretty fast. They're also priced in the same range. Unfortunately Benchmark's future is clouded by the contractual disagreements between the author and the distributor. Hope this helped. – Steve –