Editing Lattice C

{{Distinguish|Lattice Semiconductor}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Lattice C
| logo = lattice-logo.png
| screenshot = 
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| collapsible = 
| author = 
| developer = Steve Krueger et al.
| released = {{Start date and age|1982}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date = 
| latest preview version = 
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| programming language = C, Assembly
| operating system = DOS, OS/2, MVS, VMS, UNIX, AmigaOS, [[Sinclair QDOS]], [[Atari TOS]]
| platform = 
| size = 
| language = 
| genre = [[Compiler]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
| website = {{URL|support.sas.com/documentation/onlinedoc/sasc/}}
}}The '''Lattice C Compiler''' was released in June 1982 by [[Lifeboat Associates]] and was the first{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} [[C (programming language)|C]] [[compiler]] for the [[IBM Personal Computer]].<ref name="InfoWorld Jun 1982">{{cite magazine | title = Software News |magazine= InfoWorld | volume = 4 | issue = 22 | page =61 | publisher = Popular Computing | location = Palo Alto CA | date = June 7, 1982 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA61 | issn = 0199-6649 | quote = Lifeboat Associates' new Lattice C Compiler for the IBM Personal Computer produces relocatable machine code in Intel's 8086 object module format and takes advantage of the 8086 instruction set. }}</ref> The compiler sold for $500 and would run on [[PC DOS]] or [[MS-DOS]] (which at the time were the same product with different brandings). The first hardware requirements were given as 96KB of RAM and one (later two) [[Floppy disk|floppy drives]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1982-10-25 |title=InfoWorld Software Report Card |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DjAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Lattice&pg=PA47 |journal=InfoWorld |volume=4 |issue=42 |pages=47}}</ref><ref name="PC July 1983">{{cite magazine | last = Hinsch | first = Hanno| title = Is Lifeboat King of the C's? |magazine=PC Magazine | volume = 2 | issue = 2 | pages =527–533 | publisher = Ziff-Davis Publishing | date = July 4, 1983| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=V2588uIxmAQC&pg=PA527 | issn = 0888-8507}}</ref> It was ported to many other platforms, such as [[Mainframe computer|mainframes]] ([[MVS]]), [[minicomputer]]s ([[OpenVMS|VMS]]), [[workstation]]s ([[Unix|UNIX]]), [[OS/2]], [[Amiga]], [[Atari ST]], and [[Sinclair QL]].

The compiler was subsequently repackaged by [[Microsoft]] under a distribution agreement as '''Microsoft C version 2.0'''.<ref name = " PC Oct 1983">{{cite magazine | last = Clapp | first = Douglas| title = Microsoft C Unveiled |magazine=PC Magazine | volume = 2 | issue =5 | pages =503–508 | publisher = Ziff-Davis Publishing | date = October 4, 1983| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=qURs4j9vKn4C&pg=PA503 | issn = 0888-8507}}</ref> Microsoft developed their own C compiler that was released in April 1985 as Microsoft C Compiler 3.0.<ref name = "MS C 3.0">{{cite journal| title = Software | journal = Computerworld | volume = 19 | issue = 15 | page =71 | publisher = CW Communications | location = Framingham, MA | date = April 15, 1985| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=XxS89r_AA_0C&pg=PA71| issn = 0010-4841| quote = Microsoft has announced an enhanced version of its Microsoft C Compiler for the IBM Personal Computer… A vendor spokesman said Version 3.0 is the first C compiler developed internally by Microsoft. }}</ref> Lattice was purchased by [[SAS Institute]] in 1987 and rebranded as '''SAS/C'''. After this, support for other platforms dwindled until compiler development ceased for all platforms except IBM mainframes. The product is still available in versions that run on other platforms, but these are [[Cross-compilation|cross compilers]] that only produce mainframe code.

Some of the early 1982 commercial software for the IBM PC was ported from [[CP/M]] (where it was written for the [[BDS C]] subset of the C language) to MS-DOS using Lattice C including [[Perfect Writer]], [[PerfectCalc]], [[PerfectSpeller]] and [[PerfectFiler]]. This suite was bundled with the [[Seequa Chameleon]] and [[Columbia Data Products]].
* LMK, [[make (software)|make]] tool
* LSE, screen editor
* TMN, text management utilities

==Reception==
In a 1983 review of five C compilers for the IBM PC, ''[[BYTE]]'' chose Lattice C as the best in the "superior quality, but expensive and unsuited to the beginner" category. It cited the software's "quick compile and execution times, small incremental code, best documentation and consistent reliability".<ref name="phraner198308">{{cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1983-08/1983_08_BYTE_08-08_The_C_Language#page/n135/mode/2up | title=Nine C Compilers for the IBM PC |magazine=BYTE | date=August 1983 | access-date=20 October 2013 | author=Phraner, Ralph A. | pages=134–168}}</ref> ''[[PC Magazine]]'' that year similarly praised Lattice C's documentation and compile-time and runtime performance, and stated that it was slightly superior to the CI-C86 and c-systems C compilers.{{r|PC July 1983}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060321223926/http://www.lattice.com/otherdos.htm |date=March 21, 2006 |title=DOS and OS/2 compiler }}
** Note: As of 2023, the domain ''lattice.com'' is used by a new company

[[Category:C (programming language) compilers]]
[[Category:Amiga development software]]
[[Category:Atari ST software]]
[[Category:DOS software]]
[[Category:IBM mainframe software]]