On Sun, 15 Aug 2004, Luchezar Georgiev wrote: > Besides, you know that Borland C++ 4.0 produces the smallest possible > packed kernel binary file. Sometimes kernel file size is what matters (for > floppy and ROM disks) and sometimes - the resident size in RAM (where > Watcom is the king), if the DOS is in low RAM or if there is no cache. > Depends.
Question is how much of a difference can you tolerate? From you I get the impression that a 100K uncompressed kernel that compresses to 39999 bytes would be preferable to a 64K one that compresses to 40000 bytes. I've seen compressed differences between Turbo C++ 1.01 and OW going down over the years. As for Borland, is it worth spending $59+postage for an unsupported product on an obscure Ebay site when so many free compilers are available? How about Digitals Mars for instance? I experimented a bit -- as it turns out once the uncompressed size goes to <64K you can stick on a SYS header to kernel.sys, UPX the already exeflatted SYS file and use that. For some reason in this case UPX is better than APACK by the way. Well I got it down to ~41300 bytes vs. your 40957. Now you're just lucky that 40957 is just below the 80 sector boundary but the difference is gone at 40961 bytes. > But on the other hand, Datalight still use Borland as their > one and only compiler for ROM-DOS. If it was so bad, would they use it? Did I say it was bad? I just claim it's not the best tool for our job and has several other disadvantages. Do Datalight really use it because the entropy is lower so the compressed size goes down? > Bart, some programmers claim that the only true Watcom is 10.6-, and > 11.0+ is NO LONGER WATCOM as it was RUINED by Sybase. I have compared the > code generated by both, and the difference is not so big, plus the code by > 11.0+ is more optimal. What you can say on these Watcom version > differences? I don't know. Only ever used 10.x for 32bit a long time ago, and haven't used it at all for several years before openwatcom was there. Of course they lost the "race" (MSVC, Intel, GCC) when Sybase took over and eventually stopped development. And from what I gather 11.x however introduced various obscure linker bugs, and loop optimization bugs (most are fixed in OW now). And OW still has years to catch up in terms of C++ standards (slowly getting there). Bart ------------------------------------------------------- SF.Net email is sponsored by Shop4tech.com-Lowest price on Blank Media 100pk Sonic DVD-R 4x for only $29 -100pk Sonic DVD+R for only $33 Save 50% off Retail on Ink & Toner - Free Shipping and Free Gift. http://www.shop4tech.com/z/Inkjet_Cartridges/9_108_r285 _______________________________________________ Freedos-kernel mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-kernel
