Should you do OS/2 development? (OS/2 Developer)

Your client just called to report the application worked the first time and they loved the responsive interface.

I suspect this is the dream of every application developer. Today, however, this is most likely a wonderful daydream--applications often don't work the first time. Further, because of system limitations, there are times when developers have to make tradeoffs that affect response time. While I don't have a solution to make your applications work the first time, I do have a suggestion to cure the response problem--change the development platform to one that doesn't get in the way.

The basic problem with most DOS and Windows applications is the environment in which they run. Neither was designed to allow developers to build applications that are responsive to end-users. When developers build DOS applications our basic architecture looks something like:

check do check do etc.

The DOS application architecture is designed to do everything possible to keep the system busy. In Windows, if you want to create a responsive application, you should create an idle-time loop as a way to keep the system busy. What would be ideal is an operating system that keeps the user busy.

This is the basic difference between DOS and Windows development, and OS/2 development. By now, most people are aware that OS/2 is a pre-emptive, multi-threaded, multitasking operating system. What might not be obvious is what that means.

Buzz words

OS/2 allows multiple programs to execute simultaneously. That's multitasking. In addition, OS/2 allows multiple parts of a single program to execute simultaneously. That's multi-threading. …