I have heard ( and made) this complaint about CCS a time or two, but my
attitude is changing.  They have a different paradigm about their business,
one that is more popular in software costing thousands.  They charge an
annual fee for maintenance.  Pro-Engineer charges several thousand dollars a
year for maintenance, after charging you at least $6000 for the program in
the first place.  So $99 a year is a steal in comparison.

CCS is not a cheap compiler, it's payments are just spread out over time.
Personnally, my company allows me to spend under $100 any way I see fit,
whereas if I ask to spend $800 for thier competitors fine and excellent
software, I get stonewalled.

I have had very excellent response to bugs in the CCS compiler.  I
experienced a few problems after their last revision, which were promptly
resolved within 24 hours after I telephoned them.

Don't be afraid of them.  If you find a bug in a function, get them on t he
phone.  If there isn't a fix, re-write it in assembler, most CCS functions
are very simple.

--Lawrence

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paunonen Tommi" <topa@TUTOR.CC.TUT.FI>
To: <PICLIST@MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 4:33 AM
Subject: [PIC]: CCS compilers??? Was: C Compilers, the sequal


> Hi all!
>
> My suggestion to everyone who has tight on money (and who hasn't) and has
> time to wait for next versions...
>
> ...WAIT!!!
>
>
> My experience comes from versions 3.038 to 3.053 (these versions in a
> little over one month).
>
> One of my problems was using getc() function in RX interrupt routine. My
> interrupt routine did not work until for a _long_ debugging and until I
> replaced getc() with something like.
>
> char_received = RCREG // (direct from receiver)
>
> I changed only one line.
>
> I also reported one bug with no response, but quess what? It was
> repaired, but it was not listed on the recent changes list.
>
> Without those bugs, it would be great compiler for smaller PICs. I would
> wait until version 3.210 or something like that.
>
> Their software policy is quite weird too. First you pay for a compiler
> (that should be so bug free you could earn your living with it) and then
> you must pay for fixes that make compiler working (in other words you do
> beta testing for them and you pay for it).
>
> I'dont know how bug free CCS's last versions have been, but maybe someone
> with more experience could tell us.
>
>
>  "Keep your bullshit detector in good workin' condition." -Forrest Gump-
>
> -Tommi Paunonen
>
> --
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> mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu
>
>

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