- BDS C
Infobox Software
name = BDS C
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author = Leor Zolman
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released =1979
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operating system =CP/M
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genre =Compiler
license =Public domain
website = http://www.bdsoft.com/resources/bdsc.htmlBDS C (or the BD Software C Compiler) is a compiler for a sizeable subset of the C programming language, that ran on and generated code for the
Intel 8080 andZilog Z80 processors. It was written by [http://www.bdsoft.com/about.html Leor Zolman] and first released in1979 when he was 20 years old. "BDS" stood for "Brain Damage Software".BDS C was very popular and influential among
CP/M users and developers in the 8-bit microcomputer era. It ran much faster and was more convenient to use than other Z80-hosted compilers of the time. It was possible to run BDS C on single-floppy machines with as little as 30K of RAM - something of a minor miracle by comparison to most other commercial compilers which required many passes and the writing of intermediate files to disk. Around 75,000 copies were sold, including a stripped down Japanese incarnation.A number of important commercial CP/M products were written in the BDS C subset of the C language, including
Mince andScribble fromMark of the Unicorn , and most of the software in thePerfect Software suite includingPerfect Writer ,PerfectCalc ,PerfectSpeller andPerfectFiler (which suite was bundled with theKaypro ).There was also a significant subset of the Unix system written in about
1980 , called MARC (Machine Assisted Resource Coordinator). This effort resembled theLinux effort of today, in some ways. Unfortunately MARC's author,Ed Ziemba , perished in asnorkeling accident before he could complete the project.In
2002 , with its commercial viability long in the past, Leor Zolman released BDS C's source code into thepublic domain , thus making itfree software . Written in 8080assembly language , the code is now mostly of historical rather than practical interest, but it is interesting to peruse for anyone wishing to see how sizeable programs for small computers were written in those days.ee also
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Small-C External links
* [http://www.bdsoft.com/resources/bdsc.html BD Software download page]
* [http://laurel.actlab.utexas.edu/~cynbe/muq/muf3_26.html MUF Mastery - historical note about Leor Zolman and BDS C]
* [http://www.radiks.net/~jimbo/art/int4.htm Interview with Leor Zolman] ( [http://www.znode51.de/articles/bdscint4.htm Alternate URL] )
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