Search

Realia Inc. has introduced a mainframe-compatible COBOL compiler for the IBM PC. On the IBM PC XT with 512K of memory, Realia COBOL can compile 3,000 lines of source code in three minutes. This is at least four times faster than any other compiler. It allows up to 1Mbyte for Data Divisions and 6Mbyte for the Procedure Divisions with overlays. A number of modules go beyond the level 2 rating of the ANSI 1974 Standard. The communications, sort-merge and reportwriter modules do not support the standard. COMP and COMP-3 structures are supported without conversion. It also includes many extensions to IBM's VS COBOL. The editor provides an excellent environment for program development. Compile time switches can be used for customizing the compiler's operations. The price is $995.

BASIC was first developed twenty years ago by J. Kemeny and T. Kurtz. The language has the advantage of being simple but lacks structure. Committee X3J2 of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has been working for almost a decade on developing standards for BASIC. A draft of ANSI BASIC has been agreed upon and a formal standard should come into effect in about one year. Sample program listings are included.