1237d02c6e26
c_echo



Hello Bob - 

>> Is this some kind of a weird joke??? 
>> #include  int main() { printf("Hello World");
>> return 0; }

>> The GNU compiler for DOS produces 80kb .exe for this test!
>> Is the GNU compiler djgpp a toy thing? 

BS> DJGPP isn't one of the world's best gcc implementations. 

--8<--cut 

I've always used Borland's C compiler for the majority of DOS
coding here. I have used Pacific C (now free) but not the more
recent version of Pacific. 

BS> opendir() functions. Another advantage of MinGW32 is that
BS> it uses MS RTL's and therefore you can write programs which
BS> don't have to carry the GPL. 

My memories of the introduction of GPL by Stallman was that it
_reduced_ the amount of C code being freely distributed and
discussed rather than increased it (as people seem to think it
did). His insistance on licensing, even though GPL, made
progammers more aware their code was being used to earn money
by others and made them more paranoid about sharing said code. 

Q: Is this how you interpreted those events at the time or am I
the only one who saw GPL as a 'negative' overall? 

BS> IMO, yes, DJGPP is a toy (dissenting opinions to
BS> /dev/null). It's only saving grace is that it does run on
BS> DOS - MinGW32 runs on a Win32 host. However, using some of
BS> the wonderful Posix features that MinGW32 supports will
BS> mean your program will only run on a Win32 target. 

BS> If you want to write small DOS programs using a compiler
BS> that is both hosted on and targets DOS, your choices are
BS> limited, but probably your best bet would be one of the
BS> older free versions of Borland or Watcom C. 

Pacific C might be another alternative for DOS? 

BS> The best, in terms of code size, speed, and compatibility
BS> with DOS C standards (i.e. MSC compatible) is Digital Mars
BS> C/C++, also available free. Again though, the DMC compiler
BS> and tools are written to run on a Win32 host and won't run
BS> on a DOS host. 

My perspective is that using "Hello World" as a test is a bit
deceptive overall. Even if inclusion of stdio.h and it's
somewhat bloated printf() does produce large executables the
'hit' happens only one time in a larger application suite of C
code. 

>
>        ,                          ,
>      o/      Charles.Angelich      \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >          USA, MI           < \   __\__
 

___ * ATP/16bit 2.31 * 
... DOS the Ghost in the Machine! http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/

--- Maximus/2 3.01