[Color Computer] [coco] Learning MW C

[James Diffendaffer]

>Yes, but in *my* personal case:
>
>* The script you need is basically 1-off (most of what I do is 1-off)
>
>* It takes 2 hours to code the program in Basic, but takes 2 weeks in C.

Ya know... I keep hearing stuff like that but it hasn't really proven
to be the case in my experience.

Developing BASIC probably takes less time for short programs but as
the project grows in size and scope I've found the opposite to be true.

C is definately not as easy to learn as BASIC and to get the most out
of it requires understanding of things a BASIC programmer doesn't
even know goes on.

The biggest problem I have with most BASICs is a lack of complex data
structures and pointers.  There are a few variants than have some data
structures but it's kinda like records in Pascal.  I loved Pascal when
I first learned it.  Then I learned C... now I hate Pascal.

BASIC09 kinda fills the same role under OS-9 as Pascal did on the
Apple II.  It was also a bytecode (PCode) interpreter and could do
some neat stuff that would take a lot of time to duplicate in C.  In
the case of the Apple II and 6502 it was the only way to easily create
relocatable code and it could swap subroutines in and out at runtime
allowing programs to be larger than memory.  A feature that several
games on the Apple depended on.  (Sundog and Wizardry for example)

For some applications where speed isn't critical there's nothing wrong
with BASIC.  But for driving a bunch of stepper motors as fast as
possible C will be better. 

C also has the advantage of generating assembly out of the compiler. 
You can write and debug something in C and then take the assembly and
hand optimize the critical portions.  I did this several times when I
was developing for the Amiga.  

>Saving 15 minutes on overall runtime is a "hollow victory." ;-)
The entire project was kind of a thorn in my side so in more ways than
one.

>I'm not disputing a single thing you said [[ and who knows - you
might be 
>able to code C quicker than Basic anyway! ]], but sometimes the time 
>savings doesn't come in execution speed or CPU cycles.
>
>Laterz,
>Roger "Merch" Merchberger


To be fair I've rewritten... er... "refactored" C++ code to
achive similar savings.  At MCI I took over part of a project
processing phone records.  Some changes to the C++ classes and
creative typecasting saved over 11MB (yes, Mega Bytes) of RAM and sped
up the code on the production system by about 100 times. 
It would have saved even more if they hadn't designed the system to
run at least 2 copies.  I also eliminated several thousand lines of
redundant code that wouldn't need to be maintained anymore.
I'm not saying the MCI stuff was bad... just far from optimal.

But the point is... there's C and then there's good C.  A bad C
program might not be faster than a good BASIC one.







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