From: "M. Schulter" Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp Subject: Re: that's no fun anymore Date: 10 Oct 1997 16:51:48 GMT Organization: Value Net Internetwork Services Inc. Lines: 40 Message-ID: <61lmf4$gnm$1@vnetnews.value.net> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: value.net To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp Precedence: bulk Nissim wrote: : That's ridiculous.. imagine all the people who could not claim credit for : their programs because they used libc functions like printf and not : routines they wrote themselves :) Hi, there. Actually, this is an issue I often face in using the GNU assembler (GAS), which permits calling C library functions such as _scanf, _printf, and _puts in a standalone assembly language program. Of course, I want to learn how to do things such as convert integer and floating point results to decimal strings. However, as a beginner, I find that the library functions solve a lot of i/o problems, and let me concentrate on things like getting the algorithms and jumps right. Maybe the choice depends on the nature of the program: if something could easily run in a 3K executable without needing the fancier formatting that the C library makes possible, then maybe I should try to do everything with simple routines. But if the functionality of the C library would really improve the program -- or if I don't yet know how to do it otherwise -- then why not use the tools that everyone from K&R to DJ and EZ and CWS and RH, etc., have available? BTW, I've been working on a custom PostScript prologue for the last six years or so that attempts something maybe a bit like Allegro: defining a set of complex visual effects which can then be used in artwork with very concise instructions. Please let me add modestly that I have a much easier time than Shawn, since I'm using a 4GL that handles all the memory and graphics stuff. Anyway, while I can't speak for Shawn, I certainly would _not_ say that anyone who uses my freeware prologue is no longer the author of their own illustrations . Most respectfully, Margo Schulter mschulter AT value DOT net