Re: Floating point problem

[Kees de Lezenne Coulande <lezenne@COMPUSERVE.COM>]

Larry Kilgallen <kilgallen@EISNER.DECUS.ORG> wrote
on the subject of a floating-point coprocessor being needed for use
of the GNAT compiler:

>That is too bad.  I had hoped GNAT might be useful for deployment.
>Just to make sure we are on the same wavelength, my concern is
>entirely with what happens at runtime with generated programs.
>For running the compiler I can buy (actually already have) some
>appropriate machines.

>But it is really tough to sell software to people if you tell them they
>have to spend 40x the software price to buy a new computer.

     Last year I bought a 387 floating-point coprocessor for my father's 8
Mb 386DX-40 for the equivalent of about $15. Just as an experiment, I have
tried running one of my large Ada programmes on it (which was migrated from
a VAX to a PC using GNAT for OS/2). It ran OK, slowish, but no worse than
the good old VAX on a warm and busy day. And this was under DOS using the
EMX.EXE DOS-extender. I have not tried the compiler on this machine. I
would expect it to work, but too slow for any practical purpose.
     In another silly experiment at "how low can you go", about a year ago
we tried the then-current GNAT for DOS on a low-end 386. I cannot remember
the exact details anymore, but I think it was a 386SX with 2 Mb, and
definitely no FP. Compiling "Hello World" took about 20 minutes, with the
hard disk thrashing about most of the time, and the compiled program ran
OK. Running any useful programme (compiled on a more capable machine) did
not work because of the lack of floating-point coprocessor.
                             Kees de Lezenne Coulander
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  C.M. de Lezenne Coulander
  Amsterdam-Zuidoost
  The Netherlands
  E-mail: lezenne@compuserve.com

  Aircraft Development and Systems Engineering B.V.
  Schiphol-Rijk, The Netherlands
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