Author: Christophe Theron
Date: 00:06:12 02/04/00
Go up one level in this thread
On February 03, 2000 at 12:33:40, Mark Taylor wrote:
>Here's what I think...
>
>1. Improvements in algorithm design far outweigh the marginal increases from
>good optimisation vs average/no optimisation. Look at the speed/strength
>differences between the strong & weaker programs - its measured in orders of
>magnitute (both speed NPS & ELO strength) whereas optimisation gives you 10-20%.
>
>2. Microsoft increasingly seem to have built-in obsolescance in their products -
>file formats change with every release, applications stop working with new
>releases of OS. I have access to VC++ v6 enterprise & it ***stopped working
>after I moved from win95 to win98*** (it crashes while loading). You can find
>yourself locked into a costly cycle of upgrading whenever Microsoft need more
>profits.
While I would certainly 100% support your views about Microsoft, I have to say
that the Visual Studio 6.0 runs just fine under my Windows 98 (Second Edition).
Maybe you should reinstall it.
You should also consider installing the "Service Pack 3". If you don't, be aware
that the Visual C++ produces INCORRECT CODE in some situations (Chess Tiger
could not be correctly compiled with the out-of-the-box product).
The Service Pack 3 is 120Mb in size, so good luck if you want to download it
from the MS site.
>3. If you are planning to make your program work with Winboard you don't need
>GUI development features, only a "console" or "DOS" interface.
>
>4. I personally find the interface of VC++ v6 difficult to use - I prefer an old
>fashioned command-ine compiler.
>
>Taking the above into account, I am currently looking at DJGPP which is a
>windows/dos/pc port of the excellent (free!) GNU C++ compiler & associated
>development tools. My initial reaction is that they are very good & I would
>recommend them to anybody. for details see http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/
>You could also consider doing your development on Linux!
You are absolutely right about the DJGPP. Chess Tiger, the 32 bits version, has
been completely developped with this compiler. I like the IDE a lot (drop the
command line compiler, the IDE does all you need including step by step
debugging). It fits on 3 floppy disks, which is incredibly light compared to
MammothSoft VC++.
However the version I have is not optimized for Pentium (I downloaded it in 1997
and never updated since that). Do you know if there is a new version available,
with Pentium optimizations?
Christophe
>If you really think you need VC++, go for the cheapest option, then when your
>chess algorithm is so good you cannot improve it without enormous effort, then
>upgrade to the professional edition to gain the extra 20%. Beware though that
>the cheaper versions VC++ can not produce "console/DOS" executables, which are
>needed for Winboard.
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