DOS ain't dead

FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? (Developers)

posted by glennmcc  , North Jackson, Ohio (USA), 03.01.2022, 17:58

> > Since FreeDOS kernel and/or FreeCOM supports different C compilers, I
> > wonder if there is a comparison for those compilers for compiling
> > FreeDOS/FreeCOM?
>
> smallest code usually Watcom, gcc similar, Turbo ~15% larger.
>
> however UPX compresses Turbo code better, so often the binary is smaller.
>
> of course this depends a lot on
>
> a) the amount of runtime library pulled in by your code
> b) the memory model
> c) CPU type
> d) calling conventions
> e) the kind of code that you wrote (watcom optimizer optimizes much better
> then turbo)
>
> so you have to do your own experiments.

IMO,

Way back when storage space was very expensive, file size was quite important.

However, now that storage space is 'dirt cheap'... file size is pretty-much irrelevant.

It's the actual efficiency of operation of the resulting binary that matters most.
(speed, memory usage, etc...)

In the early 1990's I bought a 250meg HDD for $300
(1TB would have required 4,000 of those at a total cost of $1,200,000)

A year ago I bought a 1TB USB HDD for $28

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http://glennmcc.org/

Complete thread:

• FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - roytam, 03.01.2022, 09:44
  • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - Guti, 03.01.2022, 15:34
  • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - tom, 03.01.2022, 16:10
    • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - glennmcc, 03.01.2022, 17:58
      • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - roytam, 04.01.2022, 03:50
      • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - RayeR, 04.01.2022, 05:38
        • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - marcov, 04.01.2022, 11:04
      • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - Ringding, 04.01.2022, 12:13
        • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - bretjohn, 04.01.2022, 18:12
    • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - marcov, 04.01.2022, 23:21
      • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - tom, 04.01.2022, 23:55
      • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - RayeR, 06.01.2022, 03:27
        • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - Oso2k, 06.01.2022, 04:27
          • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - tkchia, 06.01.2022, 14:29
            • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - RayeR, 07.01.2022, 04:33
              • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - roytam, 07.01.2022, 15:30
                • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - RayeR, 07.01.2022, 18:56
                  • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - andrewbird, 07.01.2022, 19:38
                  • FreeDOS/FreeCOM: which compiler produces smallest binary? - tom, 08.01.2022, 22:33