ImageCract ICC11 v5/v6 (motorola 68hc11, 80s, 90s technology): how good is it? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2018, 04:21:39 pm
content: anyone has experience with this C compiler? Since it's very expensive(1) I'd like to hear how good it is before evaluating the purchase. I can't at the moment try the demo, it only works on Windows < Vista, I can't install a virtual machine on my job workstation (I am not at home).Anyone?I can tell gcc v3.4.6 is the last one with support and ... well, it does a good job but it tends to be bloated. When your ROM is limited to 32Kbyte, a smart C compiler makes the differenceup t(1) It's sill available, and it's 250 euro for a license.

author: richardman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2018, 06:34:20 pm
content: I wrote the compiler so I can answer some of your questions. Surprised that you can still find it for sale though! It has not been updated since 2000 or so.The front end is based on David Hansen and Christopher Fraser's LCC front end, so it C89 conformant with exception when it comes to only supporting 32 bit "double". The library is not a complete C library either.The generated code is decent, but with no attempt to optimize register usage, so it will lose to hand written asm by probably at least a factor of 2. It should be competitive with other HC11 compilers though and should be better than Small-C and other "for fun" compilers.As for cost, at its day, it was priced at around $100 with its major commercial competitors costing at least$2000 or more!

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 24, 2018, 07:45:58 pm
content: QuoteFromthislink:Quoteand it seems you can still download the Demo version, and then get it registered when you purchase a license onlineQuoteAbout that, is there any source of Small-C for HC11? I can't see the machine layer.SDCC doesn't implement it.

author: richardman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2018, 03:18:36 am
content: The "legacy" folder is there for... legacy reasons, and not linked on the current home page. I presume the person who emailed us today is you and I will follow up the communications there. The short answer is: "it's a dead and unsupported product".

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2018, 11:38:49 am
content: Quote from: richardman on September 25, 2018, 03:18:36 amso it should be written explicitlyWhat is the purpose of offering a product that needs an activation code that is no more provided, and without the unlocking code the product will expire?It doesn't make sense for meGuys at Cosmic are still offering their demo version of the C compiler for HC11, where the limitation is only about the amount of code you can compile; of course, they don't give assistance either technical support, but their product won't expire.Quote from: richardman on September 25, 2018, 03:18:36 amWell, there are a couple of dudes on the Internet offering for some bucks a kit they have recently purchased from a US-government facility which was removing excess. This kit contains a 68hc11 board and all the necessary cables and gadgets, and also a couple of floppy disks with Icc11 on them, offered with an unlocking code.I don't know it's cracked or not, but it comes in mind that if people crack the software ... there must be also a reason for this

author: richardman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2018, 07:36:48 pm
content: I have to repeat that the page is not linked from our main page. We could blow that dir away of course, but I would like to keep a bit of history around.Basically, it's like you found an old magazine with an ad for a product, and asking why they don't sell that product any more when you contact them

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 25, 2018, 08:51:13 pm
content: p.s. we at DownTheBunker keep old versions of Icc, among other stuff for old MPUs

author: legacy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 03, 2018, 03:19:27 pm
content: Found icc11 v6.5 professional on the hard drive of a second-hand laptopand it cost less than the license you are not willing to sale: 60 Euro for the whole laptop!