Re: ORCA/C

[lwv26@cas.org (Larry W. Virden)]

In article <504N2B5w165w@lablues.uucp> larry@lablues.UUCP (Lawrance A. Schneider) writes:
:
:I've watched the dialog about this with much intrest.  I bought
:ORCA/C with the hope of learning to use C.  I have Hyper C and have
:used same.  However, I get frustrated when using it since I'm never
:sure if the problems I have are of my own ignorance or are a
:limitation of the program.  My hope with ORCA/C was that I could do
:WHATEVER AND BE CERTAIN THAT WHATEVER ERRORS WERE MINE.  Instead, I'm
:told that a program was issued with known errors; the author of the
:program has charged those having bought the program in good faith; in
:short, that those buyers are SOOL!!

I don't know the specifics of this instance, but I am QUITE familar with
acquisition of software in the business world.  And I know that any complex
software system that claims to be error free is either hiding the truth,
calling their bugs features, or is woefully undertested.  You should
see the huge database of reported bugs that one popular operating system
has - many of the reports came in yrs ago and the bugs were not fixed - even
if the fixes are well known (like "upgrade to the latest version of the
software...").

:
:My partner in PageWriter uses ORCA/M; I've always used Merlin.  I did
:my original disassembly of Apple Writer with Merlin.  I bought the
:ORCA to have more compatibility with Chet.  While compatibility was a
:noble goal, what a mistake!  The preverse complexity of the ORCA
:system is appalling.

I don't know of what 'perverse complexity' you refer, but perhaps the
problem is that you have never been around IBM assembler.  Much of the
flexibility of the Orca/M macro language is in place to provide similar
capability to that environment, with which the author was most familar.
I find the idea of creating for oneself an environment similar to that
in which one was training to be common - look at the GNO/ME effort
for instance.

-- 
-- 
Larry W. Virden                 INET: lvirden@cas.org
Personal: 674 Falls Place,   Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-1614