Aztech C or Hi-Tech C?

[Robb Bates]

For those who actually use it.

[Peter Onion]

On Thu, 2025-04-10 at 12:50 -0700, Robb Bates wrote:
> For those who actually use it.

I've only tried HiTech so far and it seems to work well for the small bits of C I've
written so far.

PeterO

[ladislau szilagyi]

Hi Robb,

In my opinion, HiTech C is the best C compiler for CP/M. 

Aztec C is from 1982,  HiTech C from 1989 (better C language standard covered...).

The only problem is when you try to compile some large C files... you will get 'out-of-memory' errors.

If you want to deal with large C source files, take a look at https://github.com/Laci1953/HiTech-C-compiler-enhanced

regards,

Ladislau

[Kevin Boone]

My recollection is that (?) Aztech only generates 8080 code, but Hi-Tech can generate Z80. At least, that's what I've found for the versions I was able to make work.Whether that makes any practical difference, I don't know. 

The fact that Hi-Tech supports more up-to-date C standards makes it a lot easier for me to port stuff from LInux/GCC, which is why I don't use Aztech any more. I got fed up changing all my function definitions from the K&R style that I think Aztech needs. Still, I've found that code that works on Aztech (and Hi-Tech) compiles fine using Linux/GCC. I don't know whether to be surprised about that, or no ;)

Still, I've been able to use both with what I feel is reasonable success.I'm trying to use assembly more, though, because all the C compilers I've tried have generated large .com files, which are slow to load from real floppy disks.

BW

Kevin

[Alan Cox]

Z80 is marginally better for C, and Hitech produces good code for its era too. Proper portable CP/M apps should only use 8080 instructions however so Hitech is not a "true" CP/M compiler in some eyes.

Alan

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[Martin Giese]

I've used both a bit. I like that the Hi-tech top level program does all the parts of the compilation and linking process automatically. I suppose you can use a submit file for Aztec. But most importantly, K&R syntax for Aztec is a pain.

Martin