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The future is already here!

StormC 3.0
The progressive C/C++ development system for the Amiga's future.

StormC 1 - StormC 2 - StormC 3 - Features
PowerPC - PowerASM - p.OS


Press comments:

Version 1.1 was already given high marks by the press.

"... StormC is a good choice with an eye on the future as well!"

"... a full step ahead!" Winner in head-to-head comparison!

".. you cannot go wrong with the highly polished StormC!"

Rated overall: 92%

More Ratings

  Version 3

The most important feature of this version is the new project assistant who offers an automatic arrangement of the files of your project. It doesn't matter which kind of project e.g. ANSI C, C++, shared or linker library you want to create - with some mouse clicks your project with all it's sources and libraries will be assembled.

The updated StormED now supports the setting and calling of bookmarks and it also offers a better way to do individual extensions of the syntax dictionary.

There are also some improvements on the resource-tracking and the disassembler of the debugger. During resource-tracking there is now an automatic detection when StdIO files are handed over to CreatNewProc or SystemTagList. Normally these files will be freed by the new processes automatically and so they are now deleted from resource-tracking.

The disassembler also got much faster, better and more Motorola compatible. It now supports the complete instruction set and all addressing modes of the 68k CPUs. This makes is much easier to debug hand-written assembler and ROM routines.


Version 2

This new and improved version of StormC has been enhanced in the areas of code optimization, source file management, and debugging. Organization and handling of projects have also been brought closer to perfection.

Hierarchical Projects

The intuitive project management pioneered by StormC has been extended with so-called Hierarchical Projects, allowing you to include multiple projects in a single "superproject". This feature can be used to combine projects for different processor types or alternative operating systems, letting you easily recompile all target versions even of a single program module. Another possible use is to automatically update any parts of the program that are being maintained as shared libraries.

Such projects can be created just as easily as before. Anything can be bundled into a project using drag-and-drop or through an ASL requester. Multiple selection is still supported, naturally.

External control through ARexx

Another highlight in the improved Project Manager is its ability to start external programs through ARexx while compiling. Interfacing to a revision control system (RCS) or creating a Locale catalogue file is an easy task using this option. Invoking a preprocessor or compiler for another language, taking into account any dependencies between existing and generated files, is now also possible thanks to this feature.

GoldED 4 - The Professionals' Choice

Starting with version 2.0 of the StormC package, two editors are included with the compiler. Although StormED 2 got an overhaul, only few options have been added. Rather than extending StormED we decided to simply integrate GoldED, which has long established itself as the favourite text editor among professionals, into the StormC package. You will now have a free choice between StormED and GoldED.

The environment can cooperate with GoldED just as tightly as it already did with StormED, and all options of the environment are still available from the GoldED window.

One of the major features of our system is that sources can be debugged from the normal text editor instead of using a separate debugger window. This is also possible with GoldED: When the debugger is started, GoldED will show a breakpoints column directly to the left of the source text in the same window.

Persistent breakpoints

Many StormC users requested the possibility to have the breakpoints that were set in a previous debugging run reappear the next time that the debugger is started. This is no problem for GoldED. Saved breakpoints are preserved even when the source text is modified. This can be an invaluable help for larger projects with many source files.

Disassembler and CPU register display

Assembly-language output is essential for full inspection of the program produced by the compiler. For this reason the new debugger is able to show the program as an assembler listing as well as in C/C++ source code. This window will let you set breakpoints at any location in memory. This gives you full control over bug hunts in your code, or even in ROM!

Stack checking

A so-called backtrace can also be tremendously useful for finding bugs. This is made possible by the stack window's ability to document nested function calls.

Profiler

An absolute novelty is the newly-added code profiler. After developing a program, this tool is used to find the places in your code where most execution time is spent, and help you concentrate your optimization efforts on those places where they will do the most good. It does this by measuring the execution times of each function in the program while it is running.

The product of this procedure is a table, which may be sorted by your own criteria, containing each function's name, the number of times it has been called, and the time spent in those calls. This makes optimizations to your program directly visible and quantifiable.

All features of the debugger and profiler described above can be used without the need to change the program. The necessary extra information is written to separate debug files rather than added to the actual program binary.

The consequence for you is that there is no need to recompile your program after each debugging or profiling run just to get rid of the extra information in the executable. This will help prevent nasty surprises.

GoldED 4 - The Professionals' Choice

Starting with version 2.0 of the StormC package, two editors are included with the compiler. Although StormED 2 got an overhaul, only few options have been added.

Rather than extending StormED we decided to simply integrate GoldED, which has long established itself as the favourite text editor among professionals, into the StormC package. You will now have a free choice between StormED and GoldED.

The environment can cooperate with GoldED just as tightly as it already did with StormED, and all options of the environment are still available from the GoldED window.

One of the major features of our system is that sources can be debugged from the normal text editor instead of using a separate debugger window. This is also possible with GoldED: When the debugger is started, GoldED will show a breakpoints column directly to the left of the source text in the same window.


StormC Version 1

The Advanced C/C++ Development System for the Future of the AMIGA !

StormC is an integrated development system containing all development tools imperative for efficient software engineering: editor, compiler, linker, debugger and RunShell with many outstanding features.

With the toolbar you have quick access to all important functions.

The heart of StormC is its visual project manager which manages every part of the project, e.g. sources, headers, libraries, documents and binaries.


The project manager of StormC.

The very fast editor StormED displays keywords colourfully for increased readability and a first visual syntax check.

The StormC compiler handles ANSI C and C++ sources and generates optimised code for the whole Motorola 68xxx family (including 68060 and 68881/882).


Compiler options of StormC.


One of the two Linker options requesters of StormC.

The RunShell is a powerful run-time system that monitors the running application and prevents it from crashing the system. It also offers resource tracking and it can start the source-level debugger during (!) run-time of the program.


The RunShell of StormC.


The Source-Level-Debugger of StormC. With the Inspect window you can watch and change varibles and structures. This example shows a screen structure.


HEX-Editor.


Overview:

(NEWFeatures marked by this are new in version 2.0.)

StormShell - Visual Project Manager

Management of Multiple Projects
Hierarchical Projects with Section FoldingNEW
Drag & Drop
Automatic File Type Recognition (Sources, Headers, Libraries, Docs, AmigaGuide, Binaries ...)
Toolbar with Tooltips (Help Function)
Fully Configurable (>50 Option Requesters)
GoldED Support
New Options
New GUI

GoldED / StormED - Two Fast Source Editors

Two Editors: GoldED 4 and StormED 2NEW
Multi-window Editor
Syntax Colouring
User-defined Dictionary
Perfect Source Structuring
Unlimited Undo/Redo
Fast Search & Replace
Bracket Matching
New Colour Controls
New Project Template

StormC - Very Fast ANSI-C & C++ Compiler

2-in-1 Compiler: ANSI-C & C++ (AT&T 3.0)
Exception Handling
Templates
High-Speed Compiler
Fast Turn-Around
Code Generation for all Motorola 68xxx (incl. 68060, 68881/68882)
Single-Pass Compiler
Powerful Inlining
Highly Compatible with SAS/C, DICE, Aztec C, MaxonC, GCC
Pre-Compiled Headers
Multiple-Pass Optimiser
New Keyword "__saveds"

StormLINK - Optimising Linker

Very Fast Linking
Near-Code Optimiser
Type-Safe Linking
Generates ROM Code
Easy Generation of Shared Libraries
Compatible to SAS/C- and MaxonC Libraries
Code Folding (Optimisation at Linking)
Linking of Binaries

StormLibrarian

Simple Creation of Linker Libraries
Easy Generation of Library Sets

RunShell - Outstanding Run-time system

Resource Tracking
Controlled Program Interrupt
Any Time Start of Debugger
New GUI

StormDEBUG - Comfortable Source-Level Debugger

Output into Editor Window
Easy Breakpoint Settings
Automatic Value Refresh
Comfortable Inspect Windows for Variables, Structs, Classes etc.
Editable Type Casting
HEX Editor
History and Breakpoint Window
Improved GUI
Persistent BreakpointsNEW
Disassembler and CPU Register displayNEW
Stack CheckingNEW

ProfilerNEW

Further Features

External Control through ARexxNEW
Full StormWIZARD Support (optional GUI Editor)
Fully Localised (German, English, French, Italian)
Full Multitasking
Customised Environment
Extensive Libraries for ANSI-C, C++, Amiga OS
OS 3.1 System Include Files

Requirements

Any Amiga Model with Hard Drive
AmigaOS 3.0 or better
6 MB RAM (CLI version of compiler and linker will work with 2 MB)
68020 CPU or better
CyberGraphX compatible


  The future is already here !

StormC for PowerPC

StormC V3.0 - PowerPC allows for the flexible programming of the PowerPC dual-processor board by phase 5. StormC uses an extended amiga-hunk-format for object codes and executable programs. The advantages of the extended hunk format compared to the ELF favoured by phase 5 consist in the ability to generate mixed-binaries, fat-binaries and even PowerPC-native shared libraries. The porting of existing software is tremendously simplified by this. The rapid-porting allowed by this now gives developers the chance to do a quick test-port before starting to specifically compile single modules or routines for certain processors. This solution guarantees that very soon after the PowerUP-boards start to ship applications will be available that squeeze even the last bit of speed out of these dual-processor boards.

The compiler that is part of this module supports the programming of all 68K-CPUs as well as the PowerPC-CPUs 603, 604 and their respective e-variants. The choice of which compiler to use is made in the project. Because of the hierarchical project organization the generation of 68K- and PowerPC mixed-binaries is a piece of cake. The commandset of the the PowerPC is extensively supported. Speed-enhancing commands like rlwlml, fnmadds, frsqrt, dctb, etc. are used by the compiler if the appropriate switches are set. The PowerPC-scheduler ensures a clean and quick execution of your program by intelligently filling the many pipelines with suitable commands as it is common practice for risc-processors. The automatic cache-performance optimization ensures a maximum speed for RAM-access, especially on systems with slow RAM-interfaces.

Even the compiler with the best optimization imaginable is of hardly any use if no suitable libraries are available for it. For this reason, the StormC-PowerUP package ships with PPC-native ANSI-C- and math-libraries, giving everything you need to directly port your ANSI-projects.

The documentation supplied with the add-on modules describes the use of the new interface, the basic characteristics provided by the new options, and the newly available programming strategies.


  StormPowerASM

StormC v3.0 - PowerASM Module. Brand new and as unique as the StormC PowerPC-module is the assembler-module that is also available as a stand-alone program. StormPowerASM is a PowerPC-assembler for Amiga computers. It supports the entire PowerPC-commandset and on top of that offers several hundred extended mnemonics that make programming easier and greatly increase the readability of the source code. Its outstanding macro-abilities and the support of floating-point expressions and -operators prove the high level of this new PowerPC programming system.

The documentation describes programming the PowerPC. A list of all macros and directives (featuring extensive descriptions) is also part of the documentation, as well as detailed information on our hardware-layer.


  StormC for pOS

Obviously a new PowerPC Amiga will also require a new operating system. What use are high processor speeds after all, if they are wasted on an old operating system bogged down by emulation overhead? With pOS, proDAD presents a new generation of system software that we consider the prime candidate for the next Amiga generation.

For this reason it is no more than logical that our development tools can be used to develop software for pOS. StormC is already being used intensively in the development of pOS itself; thus it goes without saying that it can also be used to compile programs that run under pOS.

The pOS version of StormWIZARD, which has also been completed, enables you to port your own software to this operating system with a minimum of effort. Your investments in Amiga software development are secure with the Storm line of development tools!


© 1997 HAAGE & PARTNER Computer - http://www.haage-partner.com