Aztec C is a discontinued

C programming language C (''pronounced'' '' – like the letter c'') is a general-purpose programming language. It was created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie and remains very widely used and influential. By design, C's features cleanly reflect the capabilities of ...

compiler In computing, a compiler is a computer program that Translator (computing), translates computer code written in one programming language (the ''source'' language) into another language (the ''target'' language). The name "compiler" is primaril ...

for CP/M-80,

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

(both Apple DOS 3.3 and ProDOS), Commodore 64, early Macintosh,

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

, and Atari ST. It was sold commercially by Manx Software Systems.

History

Manx Software Systems of Shrewsbury, New Jersey produced

compilers beginning in the 1980s for

CP/M CP/M, originally standing for Control Program/Monitor and later Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 for Intel 8080/Intel 8085, 85-based microcomputers by Gary Kildall of Digital Research, Dig ...

, IBM PC compatibles, Macintosh, and other systems. Manx was started by Harry Suckow, with partners Thomas Fenwick, and James Goodnow II, the two principal developers. They were all working together at another company at the time. Suckow had started several companies of his own anticipating the impending growth of the personal computer market. A demand came for compilers first and he disengaged himself from the other companies to pursue Manx and Aztec C. Another developer, Chris Macey, assisted them momentarily with 80XX development, apart from other areas. One of the main reasons for Aztec C's early success was the floating point support in the

Z80 The Zilog Z80 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by Zilog that played an important role in the evolution of early personal computing. Launched in 1976, it was designed to be software-compatible with the Intel 8080, offering a compelling altern ...

compiler, which was extended to the

shortly after. During the move to ANSI C in 1989, Robert Sherry represented them on the American National Standards Institute, ANSI committee but left shortly after. He also fixed numerous bugs in the Aztec C after Chris Macey and Thomas Fenwick left the company. By this time

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

had targeted competitors for their C compiler and Aztec C was being pushed-out of the general IBM PC compatible compiler market, followed by competition with Apple's MPW C on the Macintosh side and

Lattice C The Lattice C Compiler was released in June 1982 by Lifeboat Associates and was the first C compiler for the IBM Personal Computer. The compiler sold for $500 and would run on PC DOS or MS-DOS (which at the time were the same product with differ ...

on the

after SAS bought them. In 1989 Thomas Fenwick left to work for Microsoft, and James Goodnow worked on Aztec C occasionally but was pursuing other projects outside the company and eventually left the company altogether. Chris Macey returned as a consultant but eventually left to become chief scientist for another company. Throughout the 1990s they continued to make their Aztec C compiler. As their market share dropped, they tried to make the move to specializing in embedded systems development, but it was too late. They disappeared in the late 1990s following the loss of market presence of some of their target platforms (various

6502 The MOS Technology 6502 (typically pronounced "sixty-five-oh-two" or "six-five-oh-two") William Mensch and the moderator both pronounce the 6502 microprocessor as ''"sixty-five-oh-two"''. is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by a small ...

machines,

Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French holding company Atari SA (formerly Infogrames) and its focus is on "video games, consumer hardware, licensing and bl ...

and

68xxx, etc.). In the end, Jeff Davis and Mike Spille helped Harry Suckow keep the company going before Suckow finally closed it. Suckow is still the

copyright holder A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, e ...

for Aztec C. Many developers used the Aztec C compiler until it became operationally extinct.

Reception

BYTE The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable un ...

'' in February 1989 approved of Aztec C for DOS's portability with other platforms, and found that it produced the smallest executables. The magazine reported that compiled code benchmarked poorly, however and libraries "exhibited some obscure bugs, surprising in such a mature product". ''BYTE'' concluded that "Aztec C suffers more than it benefits from its long and diverse heritage".

Legacy

Aztec C remains

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

ed. Harry Suckow is the copyright holder. At least two free Internet distributions exist for native Aztec C compilers for the

; one for DOS 3.3 and the other for Apple ProDOS, ProDOS 8. Free Internet distributions exist for the

, and a limited version of the

cross-compiler A cross compiler is a compiler capable of creating executable code for a platform other than the one on which the compiler is running. For example, a compiler that runs on a PC but generates code that runs on Android devices is a cross compil ...

for Apple II ProDOS 8.

References

{{Authority control C (programming language) compilers Apple II software CP/M software Commodore 64 software Amiga development software Atari ST software