On Thursday, 98/11/26, Wayne Steele wrote to Mike Ruskai about "OS/2 C++
Programming?" as follows:

WS>  MR> The EMX package is a free port of the GNU C compiler.
WS> 
WS> C or C++? What's the difference... Also where is this available?

Hi Wayne,

There is a major leap in technology from C to C++. Your approach to
programming in C++ is somewhat different from that of programming in C; not
all that much different, but enough to intimidate many.

The EMX package is available from the Hobbes and Leo servers. However, it is
no longer being developed, as Eberhard Mattes is no longer at the University
of Muenster.

WS>  WS> If not does Watcom 10.x or 11.x series compile OS/2 executables?
WS> 
WS>  MR> Yes, but the product is no longer being updated.

Mike is wrong here. The 11.0b "patch" was released only a few months ago.
These patches appear about once a year.

WS>  MR> I personally use
WS>  MR> VisualAge C++ from IBM, which I picked up via auction for $91.
WS>  MR> Normally, it's something like $350 or so.  Version 4.0 is soon to
WS>  MR> be out, with version for OS/2, AIX, and WinNT/95.
WS> 
WS> I'll look around for something that is supported... I guess 
WS> I'll find someone somewhere willing to depart with something...

In spite of rumours to the contrary, Watcom C/C++ is still supported, at
least at the 11.x level. Watcom is a far better C++ compiler than IBM Visual
Age, but they are about the same as C compilers.

Another nice part about the Watcom compiler is that it can produce 16-bit
code on the odd occasion that you need it. The IBM compiler can only produce
32-bit code, and "thunk" to 16-bit code compiled elsewhere.

A major difference between the 2 overall packages is that IBM supplies a GUI
generator called Visual Builder. This is the memory hog from Hell and runs
slower than treacle, but it will generate C++ source code [based on a
proprietary class library] for you. OTOH, with the Watcom compiler you would
need to use a 3rd party product like Hockware's VisPro C or Apical Systems'
Gpf, for GUI code generation. These are much faster than Visual Builder. You
can, of course, code your GUI directly to the API, or you can eschew GUI
completely and produce command line interface (CLI) programs exclusively.

Whether you choose IBM or Watcom you will be using quite a decent compiler.
I have both installed here and generally prefer Watcom, largely because of
IBM's memory hog IDE and Watcom's much greater flexibility.

Regards

Dave


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