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Re: [OT] Anyone home at Metrowerks?
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Re: [OT] Anyone home at Metrowerks?

On Sunday, July 6, 2003, at 07:54 AM, Laurence Harris wrote:
A few years ago I worked with some people who
had switched from Mac to Windows development. The impression I got from them
was that they considered writing Mac software a lot more enjoyable than
writing Windows software.

Hi Larry

I did 10 years of C/C++/asm on Mac before buying a PC in 1997. Was pleased to find it easier and faster to write programs with Borland RAD.

Visual C++ is about as tedious as PowerPlant. Strangely, these seem the most common platforms for "big dog" desktop application companies. There must be some reason, but haven't figured it out. They still have to port between frameworks and low-level OS differences.

Codewarrior undoubtedly has the best code editing and project management features.

it's going to take more than five people at $300 a head to
motivate MW to write a modern Pascal compiler that builds Mach-O code.

Wasn't asking Metrowerks for a "modern Pascal compiler". That would be my request to Borland for a Mac Kylix.

Given a Mac Kylix, I could port our 25+ products to Mac in the time it has taken to carbonize one program in Codewarrior.

Eric Grant's MachOLib Codewarrior post-linker plugin appears to keep CFM OSX programs practical this year. With luck, perhaps next year. Maybe Mac GNU Pascal on Project Builder will be ready for prime time by the time it is necessary. But would prefer to program in Codewarrior rather than Project Builder.

I really liked Pascal. I just like C++ better
and given the state of Pascal tools for the Mac, Pascal would simply not
come close to being my first choice for doing Mac development.

Horses for Courses. I 'm not picky.

Some folks have a "cold dead hands" attitude about Pascal. On PC, except for certain specialized tasks, Pascal offers few disadvantages, and there can be productivity advantages.

How many people switch from C/C++ to Pascal, if I may ask?

Dunno. What difference does it make?

Isn't it obvious? People tend to switch to something when they find
something better. Are a lot of people switching to Pascal from
C/C++/Java/Cocoa?

"Better" depends on the task, and personal preference. I like about any computer or language.

This 'switching == better' proposition is dangerous to your 'mac == better' proposition.

If 'switching == better', then the Mac's inexorable slide in market share would imply that 'windows == better' (GRIN).

If you still use Pascal to write Mac software:

-- You constantly have to convert sample code from C to Pascal.

Correct.

-- It's harder to get help with your code because almost everyone writing
Mac software today will look at your code and say something to the effect
of, "I'm not sure how you'd do it Pascal, but in C..."

No problem. If something is easier in C, I do it in C.

-- Support for Pascal tools for Mac development is almost non-existent. I'm
not aware of any Pascal Mach-O compilers, and I'm not even sure what the
status is with header support for Pascal development.

Agreed on all points.

Posit these circumstances--

A. Some of a company's products are in Pascal.
B. The primary product's PC version massively outsells the Mac version.
C. Mac new features are more labor-intensive than PC new features
D. The Mac version requires higher maintenance.
E. The main developer PREFERS Pascal, is very productive, and releases large annual feature upgrades--

Would you--

A. Maintain exact parallel versions in PC Object Pascal and Mac C++ ? Pas2CPP a new mountain of code every year, further increasing Mac development expense? Pas2CPP every minor bug-fix?

B. Try to make Pascal work on Mac?

C. Cut your losses and abandon the Mac?

James Chandler Jr.
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 >Re: [OT] Anyone home at Metrowerks? (From: Laurence Harris <email@hidden>)



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