[pjmlp]

> wWhy bring these ancient home computer platforms into play? Those were totally different to program for. Why not compare a C compiler from 1998 to one from 2018, on x86 (no SSE of course)? C compilers have gotten better, but not spectacularly.

To clear up the myth among young generations that C compilers always generated fast code, regardless of the platform.

As for something more modern, in 1998, C code quality was still at a similar level to other system's languages, before they started to fade away thanks to the increase in UNIX, Linux and BSD adoption

For example, given that Delphi and C++ Builder share the same backend, their generated code was quite similar, even if it would require disabling some of the Delphi's security checks.

> Not necessarily.

Sure, it all depends on the CPU being targeted.