Re: Why I didn't like Eiffel

[Ian Nelson <"Ian Nelson">]

Glenn Williamson wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 30 Jul 1997, Brian Kimball wrote:
> 
> > What IDE or compiler did you use?  When?
> 
> I used two different packages. The first was Unix based, I think it was
> called ISE Eiffel, v3.x.x. The main gripes with this package were :
> 
>         1) It took nearly 30 minutes to compile a simple 'Hello World'!!!
>            This was at a 'GooD TimE' too .... If the Uni computers were
>            congested at any time, say, close to an assignment being due,
>            then it may take twice as long.
> 
>         2) The size of the executable on this particular system was
>            enormous. 'Hello World' came in at over 3Mb!!! Thankfully, this
>            problem was solved by SysProgs at the Uni midway thru semester.
> 
> The second package I used was Windows Based. It was the commercial version
> of ISE Eiffel, which I ran on my PC at home, was far better. MY gripe with
> this package, was that it didnt leave me an executable, and it didnt come
> with any graphic libraries .... ( and I couldnt have been bothered going
> out looking for any! )
> 
> Don't get me wrong, I dont hate Eiffel with a vengeance, I just found that
> the particular system I used didnt suit me at all ... I prefer getting
> down amongst it all in C or C++, rather than being constrained by Eiffel .
> 
>         M00z,
>                 Glenn
> 
> P.S. I used it in the first semester of this year ....


On a sort of unrelated issue.. Does anyone know if anybody is writing an
Eiffel front-end for the Gnu compiler yet?  It is on the to-do list but
I've not heard of any projects.

At the very least it would make the Ada vs. Eiffel debate a little more
entertaining if some of the Eiffel folks stepped up to the challenge.