Digital Mars

<h2 id="history">History</h2>
<p>In 1988, Zortech was the first C++ compiler to ship for <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Windows</a>. <a href="/facts/PC_Magazine/uPNIj5y0">PC Magazine</a> ran a graphics benchmark, and reported that most executables produced by Zortech ran faster than executables produced by <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Visual_C%252B%252B/RM3sbYw5">Microsoft C 5.1</a> and by <a href="/facts/Watcom_C%2fC%252B%252B/GFxPBuGb">Watcom C 6.5</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>  <a href="/facts/Stanley_B._Lippman/bvtFyuNK">Stanley B. Lippman</a> wrote that Zortech was the first C++ compiler to implement <a href="/facts/Copy_elision/W9aoK8bh">return value optimization</a>. Later, the C++ standard required this.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p><p>In 2023, <a href="/facts/Mike_Engelhardt/Ee7z5YbF">Mike Engelhardt</a> released a new simulator <a href="/facts/QSPICE/lmqgDm2t">QSPICE</a>, which uses this compiler on the backend to allow for C++ and Verilog authored behavioral simulation models to be compiled to native code and loaded by the simulation environment.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="reception">Reception</h2>
<p>In a February 1989 overview of optimizing C compilers, <i><a href="/facts/BYTE_(magazine)/xWovF95Q">BYTE</a></i> approved of Zortech C 1.07's $90 price, included IDE, and <a href="/facts/Microsoft_CodeView/PnBtaBwv">Microsoft CodeView</a> compatibility. The magazine reported that the software "lacks some of the features of those in the $400 range" but its code often benchmarked better. <i>BYTE</i> concluded that "Zortech does everything that a compiler has to do—at an attractive price".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a>
</p>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="http://www.digitalmars.com">Official website</a> </li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Digital Mars Features". <a href="http://www.digitalmars.com/features.html" target="_blank">http://www.digitalmars.com/features.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Digital Mars License Agreement". <a href="http://www.digitalmars.com/download/dmcpp.html" target="_blank">http://www.digitalmars.com/download/dmcpp.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>Randy Davis, Stephen (October 31, 1988). "Zortech Ships First C++ Compiler". PC Magazine. New York: Ziff Davis. p. 38. Retrieved March 7, 2018. The first true C++ compiler for the PC <a href="https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1988-10-31" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1988-10-31</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Randy Davis, Stephen (October 31, 1988). "Zortech Ships First C++ Compiler". PC Magazine. New York: Ziff Davis. p. 38. Retrieved March 7, 2018. The first true C++ compiler for the PC <a href="https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1988-10-31" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1988-10-31</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Stanley B. Lippman (1997). C++ Gems: Programming Pearls from The C++ Report (SIGS Reference Library). ISBN 0-13-570581-9. It was first implemented by Walter Bright in a version of his Zortech C++ compiler <a href="0-13-570581-9" target="_blank">0-13-570581-9</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"Using C++ and Verilog in QSPICE". Retrieved July 26, 2023. <a href="https://www.qorvo.com/design-hub/videos/using-c-plus-plus-and-verilog-in-qspice" target="_blank">https://www.qorvo.com/design-hub/videos/using-c-plus-plus-and-verilog-in-qspice</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>"QSPICE Revolutionizes Power, Analog Device Circuit Simulation". Retrieved July 26, 2023. <a href="https://www.eetimes.com/qspice-revolutionizes-power-analog-device-circuit-simulation" target="_blank">https://www.eetimes.com/qspice-revolutionizes-power-analog-device-circuit-simulation</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Apiki, Steven; Udell, Jon (February 1989). "Smoothing Out C". BYTE. pp. 170–186. Retrieved 2024-10-08. <a href="https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1989-02_OCR/page/n225/mode/1up?view=theater" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1989-02_OCR/page/n225/mode/1up?view=theater</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Digital Mars open-in-new

Digital Mars