>1. I look at the great cost savings in spending $100 instead of $700 on
>products which, for my needs, are equivalent.  Also,

I make my living doing this.  $600 is a day's pay at my full rate.  I have
easily saved that several times over by upgrading to HiTech.

>2. I've never checked the generated assembly code and my application
>runs just fine.  Of course, not knowing PIC assembler is one reason why
>I haven't checked it.  I see no need.  I know C and I know that my
>application runs.

Maybe, because of the nature of the programming I do, it is essential that
the compiler be trusted to generate code which accomplishes the desired
operation.

>> The HiTech code is clean, efficient, and very predictable.  The CCS code
>> was usually rather obtuse.
>
>I code with CCS because I have a product to get out, not because it
>generates beutiful assembler.  My customers could care less what the
>code looks like.  They want the application to work.

I don't look for beautiful assembler, either.  But I do like code that is
easy enough to verify.  Which gets right to YOUR point - "they want the
application to work."

I bought the CCS compiler hoping I would save time.  In fact, I lost time
for most things.  Several times it was so bad I ended up recoding the
entire project in assembly, because I CAN trust the assemblers (Parallax
and Microchip, at that time).

Since converting to the HiTech C, I've only found a few problems, all of
which have been addressed or have suitable workarounds.

>Gee, you mean that I haven't been programming with a REAL product?  I
>guess that I should throw away a nearly completed product and spend
>seven times what I spent for CCS just so that I can work with a 'REAL'
>compiler?

Only if you need to be able to use a linker, a librarian, and mix C and
assembly routines at will (without knowing which is which).

>Sorry for the sarcasm Andy, but we don't all have unlimited budgets.  If

Nor do I.

>something works, and it is inexpensive, I'll buy it.  I don't need a ton
>of bells and whistles which, for me at least, are completely useless
>features.  Why pay for something that most (?) people will never use?

Well, for ME these are features I would put either on the "darn tootin'
nice to have" or "gotta have, can't do without" lists.

But the best point is your first one - customers want the apps that work.
That's the difference between the two products.

Here's what I mean:

I owned the CCS compiler for ~5-6 months.  During that time I was able to
complete 1 project with it for shipment (and to do so I had to write my own
PRINTF function in assembly because CCS didn't yet support 16-bit values in
PRINTF).  Since late August (I got one of the initial releases of HiTech's
compiler) I have delivered 3 projects using HiTech.

I have since gone back and changed the other app into HiTech code.  No
assembly was required.  What else can I say.

Andy

==================================================================
Andy Kunz - Montana Design - 409 S 6th St - Phillipsburg, NJ 08865
          Hardware & Software for Industry & R/C Hobbies
        "Go fast, turn right, and keep the wet side down!"
==================================================================