Deep Blue C is a C programming language compiler for Atari 8-bit computers distributed by the Atari Program Exchange (APX).
Description Deep Blue C is based on Ron Cain's public domain Small-C compiler, a subset of the C programming language, modified by John Howard Palevich to run on Atari 8-bit hardware. Palevich also wrote Dandy for APX. The syntax supported by Deep Blue C is close to that of ANSI C with significant limitations. The compiler creates Intel 8080 binary code which is executed by an 8080 virtual machine as p-code.
The user must supply a source code editor, but included libraries provide and other I/O routines and video graphics, including player/missile graphics. The source code to the compiler was sold separately by APX as Deep Blue Secrets.
Limitations As a proper subset of V7 Unix C, Deep Blue C code that does not use Atari 8-bit features can be compiled on other systems with the full language. The following language constructs are not supported:
structs unions multidimensional arrays floating point numbers sizeof operator type casting functions returning types other than integer
Other non-standard properties of Deep Blue C:
The last part of switch clause must end with: break, continue, or return. The maximum length of a source code line has to be less than 80 characters. The number of arguments for functions cannot exceed 126. $( and $) are used instead of { and }, because the Atari keyboard and standard character set does not include braces.
The p-code that the compiler produces is slower than native binary. It is smaller than binary, however, and faster than Atari BASIC.
Reception Antic thought that Deep Blue C's use of p-code was acceptable given Atari's hardware limitations. The magazine praised Palevich for publishing the source code, and recommended purchasing it with the compiler for study and customization alongside The C Programming Language.
Sample program This program prints "Hello World!":
main() $( printf("Hello World!"); $)
References