6502.org

Now that it's free, has anyone used the WDC C compiler or compared it to CC65?

http://www.westerndesigncenter.com/wdc/tools.cfm

I've not looked yet as I don't have any MS windows systems to run it under, but a quick look through the manual shows command-line operation (in addition to their IDE), so it might run under DOSBOX - if anyone knows I'd appreciate a heads-up before I give it a go.

Cheers,

-gordon

A quick look through the manual shows one big advantage over cc65 - it supports floating-point. Relative performance on other operations will have to be tested; it doesn't look like it does any great heroics to optimise the code it produces, though it does allow the programmer to put local variables in zero page using the 'register' keyword.

I get the impression that the tools are designed to be run from their TIDE environment, which is a Windows application. The tools themselves will probably be Windows console programs, not DOS, so should be run from cmd.exe (or MinGW or PowerShell). If you don't have Windows, try WINE.

FP is big though. I have had some success running my latest board up to over 19mHz, so ultimate optimization may not be a big problem. If ultimate in space or speed is required, just code the crucial routines in assembler and give 'em a call when you need them.

There is allegedly a program size limit with the free version but it I think think its fairly generous and can be bypassed by compiling lots of small modules instead of fewer huge ones.

I tried to by a full copy a couple of years ago when the SXB boards came out but its now only available for big corporate users.

A shame really.