undefined | Better HN

0 pointsflohofwoe3y ago0 comments

There were hardly any free compiler toolchains outside the UNIX world in the 80's. But it's not the 80's anymore, time has moved on.

0 comments

PaulHoule3y ago

Every micro in the early 1980s came with BASIC except for a few very early ones that only had a front panel machine language monitor.

flohofwoeOP3y ago

True, but BASIC on home computers wasted so much potential that it was more or less just a gateway drug (about 100x slower than hand-written assembly code - and even assemblers cost money - so for free options you only had the choice between a very slow BASIC program, or typing hex opcodes into the machine ;)

PS: ok, except Acorn/BBC BASIC which had a frigging inline assembler :)

TheRealDunkirk3y ago

I remember C compilers costing $1000 in the 90's, before GNU software compiled with GCC came along to disrupt that nonsense.

flohofwoeOP3y ago

On the Amiga it was a bit better, I bought my first C compiler (DICE-C by Matt Dillon of DragonFly-BSD fame) for something like $99 in the early 90's.

actionfromafar3y ago

Matt Dillon has done a lot of great stuff, but to me he is somehow still Matt Dillon of DICE-C fame. :-)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

PaulHoule3y ago

Every micro in the early 1980s came with BASIC except for a few very early ones that only had a front panel machine language monitor.

flohofwoeOP3y ago

PS: ok, except Acorn/BBC BASIC which had a frigging inline assembler :)

TheRealDunkirk3y ago

I remember C compilers costing $1000 in the 90's, before GNU software compiled with GCC came along to disrupt that nonsense.

flohofwoeOP3y ago

On the Amiga it was a bit better, I bought my first C compiler (DICE-C by Matt Dillon of DragonFly-BSD fame) for something like $99 in the early 90's.

actionfromafar3y ago

Matt Dillon has done a lot of great stuff, but to me he is somehow still Matt Dillon of DICE-C fame. :-)

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse