Deep Blue C
Deep Blue C is a compiler for a subset of the C programming language for the Atari 8-bit family distributed by the Atari Program Exchange. The compiler is a version of Ron Cain's public domain Small-C[1] modified by John Howard Palevich to run on the Atari computer hardware. Palevich also wrote the Atari 8-bit game Dandy.[2] The syntax supported by Deep Blue C is close to that of ANSI C with significant limitations.
The source code to the compiler was sold as Deep Blue Secrets, also from APX.[1]
Limitations
The following language constructs are not supported:[3]
- structs
- unions
- multidimensional arrays
- floating point numbers
- sizeof operator
- type casting
- functions return integer only results
Other non-standard properties of Deep Blue C:
- The last part of
switch
clause must be ended with:break
,continue
, orreturn
. - The maximum length of source code line has to be less than 80 characters.
- The number of arguments for functions cannot exceed 126.
-
$(
and$)
are used instead of{
and}
.
Sample program
The exemplary program writes the "Hello World!" message on the user screen.[4]
main() $( printf("Hello World!"); $)
Performance
The Deep Blue C compiler does not create the native executable for 6502 processor but intermediate code called C-code. The C-code is then executed by C-code interpreter.[3] According to Atari 8-bit FAQ the compiler creates binary code for Intel 8080 processor and then executed by 8080 virtual machine.[5] This is the main cause of low performance of generated code.
References
- 1 2 Palevich, John Howard. Deep Blue Secrets Manual. Atari Program Exchange.
- ↑ "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
- 1 2 Deep Blue C documentation at Atari Archives
- ↑ W. Zientara, "Jezyki programowania Atari cz.2", SOETO, Warsaw, 1989
- ↑ Atari 8-bit FAQ