Date   : Wed, 15 Oct 1986 08:28:46 EDT (Wednesday)
From   : marty <Leisner.Henr@xerox.ARPA>
Subject: Re: Aztec C by Manx

I've been using Aztec C at work for the last two years in the following
versions:

CP/M-80 commercial
Commodore 64 version (compiled on CP/M)
CP/M-80 to Appledos cross compiler with library support hacked to
support Aim-65


I'm happy with the the CP/M version (1.06D, much better than 1.05G).
This is used on the Commodore 128 in CP/M mode.  I use the compiler to
write real time control code and am satisfied with its efficiency.
There are a number of miscellenous bugs in the libraries and the
compiler occassionally does wierd things (maybe once every 3 months).
This I've found acceptable.  The compiler runs moderately fast and
produces relatively efficient code.

The Commodore 64 compiler is another story all together.  Reading
between the lines in Manx's documentation indicates it wasn't easy to
get a Unix compatible library up and running for the file system.  In
addition, a 6502 architecture presents a number of technical problems.
Manx seems to have solves them at the expense of speed and space (i.e
recursive software is supported through a software stack, there are 8
register variables on the base page, etc.).

I don't pretend to be a Commodore guru, but I wouldn't want to write
code to support the 64/128 mode.  Using only the CP/M mode, it works
like a CP/M machine.  If you want to access the hardware from a C
program there seems to be various ways to do it.

All in all, I feel Manx delivers a quality product which works.  

marty