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Amiga E

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Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:Distinguish Template:Infobox programming language Amiga E is a programming language created by Wouter van Oortmerssen on the Amiga computer. The work on the language started in 1991 and was first released in 1993. The original incarnation of Amiga E was being developed until 1997, when the popularity of the Amiga platform dropped significantly after the bankruptcy of Amiga intellectual property owner Escom AG.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to Wouter van Oortmerssen:

"It is a general-purpose programming language, and the Amiga implementation is specifically targeted at programming system applications. [...]<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>"

In his own words:

"Amiga E was a tremendous success, it became one of the most popular programming languages on the Amiga."<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Overview

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Amiga E combines features from several languages but follows the original C programming language most closely in terms of basic concepts. Amiga E's main benefits are fast compilation (allowing it to be used in place of a scripting language), very readable source code, flexible type system, powerful module system, exception handling (not C++ variant), and Object-oriented programming.<ref name=":0" />

Amiga E was used to create the core of the popular Amiga graphics software Photogenics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

"Hello, World!" example

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A "Hello, World!" program in Amiga E looks like this: Template:Pre

History

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1993: The first public release of Amiga E;<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> the first release on Aminet was in September, although the programming language source codes were published on the Amiga E mailing list at least since May.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1997: The last version of Amiga E is released (3.3a).<ref name=":0" />

1999: Unlimited compiler executable of Amiga E is released.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1999: Source code of the Amiga E compiler in m68k assembler is released under the GPL.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Implementations and derivatives

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Discontinued

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Amiga E

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The first compiler. It was written by Wouter van Oortmerssen in m68k assembler. It supports tools that are written in E. The compiler generates 68000 machine code directly.<ref name=":1" />

CreativE

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It was created by Tomasz Wiszkowski. It is based on the GPL sources of Amiga E and adds many extensions to the compiler.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Platforms: AmigaOS and compatibles.
  • Targets: Like Amiga E, plus some limited support for the last generations of m68k CPUs.
  • Status: Stable, mature, discontinued in 2001, source available, freeware.

PowerD

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It was created by Martin Kuchinka, who cooperated with Tomasz Wiszkowski in the Amiga development group "The Blue Suns."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is derived from the Amiga E and CreativE languages but is incompatible with the former due to syntax changes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Platforms: AmigaOS and compatibles.
  • Targets: AmigaOS 3.0 or newer; at least 68020 CPU+FPU or PowerPC (PPC); and 4MB of RAM.
  • Status: Stable, mature, closed source, freeware. The project has been dormant since 2010.

YAEC

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Written from scratch in Amiga E by Leif Salomonsson and published in 2001. It uses an external assembler and linker.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The project was abandoned in favor of ECX.

  • Platforms: AmigaOS and compatibles.
  • Targets: AmigaOS 3.0 with 68020 CPU and FPU.
  • Status: Obsolete, unfinished, discontinued, closed source, freeware.

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ECX

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A compiler and tools written from scratch by Leif Salomonsson in Amiga E, with internal functions developed in m68k and PPC assemblers. It can compile itself, supports multiple targets, and adds many extensions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Platforms: AmigaOS compatibles and derivatives.
  • Targets: AmigaOS 3.0, AmigaOS 4, and MorphOS with m68k or PPC architecture.
  • Status: Stable, mature, open source, freeware. The project has been dormant since 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

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RE

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RE was created by Marco Antoniazzi in PowerD. It is not fully compatible with the Amiga E.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Platforms: AmigaOS and compatibles.
  • Targets: AmigaOS 3.0 68020 CPU+FPU; PPC.
  • Status: Stable, closed source, freeware. Dormant since 2008.

Under development

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Portabl E

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Created by Christopher Handley. It is a meta-compiler written from scratch in Amiga E. It can compile itself and supports multiple targets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

  • Platforms: AmigaOS (m68k), AmigaOS 4 (PPC), AROS, MorphOS, Linux, and Windows,
  • Targets: C++ and Amiga E. The Amiga E code is compatible with CreativE, and with proper settings, it can be compatible with the ECX compiler.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Status: Stable, mature, under development, closed source, freeware.

E-VO

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It is a derivative of the Amiga E compiler, written by Darren Coles. It expands upon the original language and incorporates features from the CreativE compiler.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

  • Platforms: AmigaOS and compatibles.
  • Targets: Like Amiga E; AmigaOS with 68000 and 020+ CPU.
  • Status: Stable, mature, under development, source available, freeware.

References

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