[rbanffy]

> the C language was not news by then.

C compilers for microcomputers were still a new thing in 1983. They were common (for obvious reasons) on Unix machines and larger mini-computers. The only 8-bit C compiler I touched was Aztec C for the Apple II computers and it was unbearably slow (even though the II was quite zippy compared to its Z-80 based counterparts). Borland made an excellent Pascal IDE for CP/M computers but I can't remember a decent C for those.

Fun thing is that Aztec C came with a bunch of tools, including a csh-like shell and vi (no, not vim) text editor. Very slow (felt like a 300 bps terminal line), but one could pretend to be accessing a much larger computer somewhere else.