Re: C programming langauge on Apple II

["mdj" <mdj.mdj@gmail.com>]

mores_p@hotmail.com wrote:

> Also, how do you rate C as a programming language on Apple II? Is it
> good? I ask because i consider myself now as a C programmer and it'll
> be great if i can use the language i am most skilled with to program my
> Apple II.

Using a cross-compiler, you can get pretty good results. Unfortunately
the 6502 is pretty poorly suited to C in terms of optimisation, so
you'll usually find that compiled code will be fairly large and not
particularly fast.

You can check out cc65's assembler output to see what I mean.

I share your affinity for C as a language (I'm a C hacker from way
back) and it's certainly fun to do C programming on the Apple II, but
it's not really the best fit for the machine IMHO - you're better off
using a higher level language for prototyping then hand tuning your
critical sections in assembly language.

Matt