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| Think C | |
|---|---|
| Name | Think C |
| Developer | Symantec |
| Released | 1980s |
| Latest release | 1990 |
| Operating system | Macintosh System Software, Mac OS |
| Platform | Motorola 68000, PowerPC |
| Genre | Integrated development environment |
Think C is a commercial integrated development environment and compiler suite developed by Symantec in the 1980s for the Apple Macintosh platform. It combined a C compiler, editor, debugger, and libraries to target Macintosh System Software and later Mac OS on Motorola 68000 and early PowerPC hardware. Think C influenced subsequent tools from Symantec and competitors such as Metrowerks and Apple Computer's own development offerings.
Symantec released Think C during a period of rapid growth in personal computing alongside companies like Apple Computer, Microsoft, IBM, and Commodore International. Early versions competed with products from Apple Inc.'s third-party ecosystem and academic compilers derived from AT&T Bell Labs research. Think C evolved through multiple versions as Symantec responded to changes driven by Motorola's processor roadmap and the transition embodied by projects like Project Pink and corporate shifts including the NeXT acquisition era. The product's timeline intersected with milestones such as releases of Macintosh Portable, Macintosh II, and the emergence of the Power Macintosh family. Throughout, Symantec navigated relationships with hardware vendors such as NCR Corporation and software vendors like Microsoft Corporation and Adobe Inc..
Think C bundled a native code compiler based on C language standards influenced by ANSI X3.159-1989 and earlier K&R C traditions, a source-level debugger, and a project-oriented editor similar to offerings from Borland International and Watcom International. It integrated resource editors for assets used by QuickDraw and Macintosh Toolbox APIs from Apple Computer. The IDE supported incremental builds, symbol browsers, and link-time optimizations comparable to contemporaneous tools like Symantec C++, CodeWarrior by Metrowerks, and compilers from Microsoft Visual C++. Think C provided performance tuning options to exploit instruction sets of Motorola 68000 family and later code generators for PowerPC architecture.
The Think C environment included a text editor, compiler driver, linker, and symbolic debugger that interfaced with the Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines-driven UI. It supported integration with build systems used in professional shops that also used tools from Aldus Corporation and Lotus Development Corporation for ancillary workflows. Developers targeting multimedia used Think C alongside graphics and publishing tools from Adobe Systems and hardware such as Apple QuickTake and peripherals by Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard. The IDE's project management mirrored features in Integrated Development Environment products like those from Borland and Microsoft, while offering Mac-specific editors that handled resource forks and Macintosh Toolbox calls.
Think C shipped with libraries to access the Macintosh Toolbox including support for QuickDraw, Menu Manager, Event Manager, and Resource Manager. It added pragmas and inline assembly support for Motorola 68000 instructions, and later iterations introduced support for code models required by PowerPC transitions. The product interoperated with third-party frameworks from vendors such as Apple Multimedia Lab partners and middleware vendors like Roxio and HyperCard extensibility providers. Symantec provided documentation and sample code drawing on techniques used in publications from Byte Magazine, Dr. Dobb's Journal, and Macworld.
Think C targeted classic Macintosh binary formats and the Macintosh Programmer's Workshop conventions while competing with cross-platform toolchains from GCC and commercial suites like MPW from Apple Computer. Porting efforts involved considerations of endianness and calling conventions between Motorola 68000 and PowerPC processors, and compatibility layers echoed concepts later formalized by projects such as Carbon and Classic Environment. Third-party libraries and source code from projects associated with X Window System and UNIX vendors were sometimes adapted to the Mac using Think C's runtime and glue code strategies similar to those used by developers working with Sun Microsystems and Digital Equipment Corporation systems.
Think C received attention in periodicals like Macworld, InfoWorld, and Compute! for its Mac-centric design and speed advantages over some competitors. It influenced development workflows at companies including Adobe Systems, Pangea Software, and smaller Mac developer houses, and shaped expectations that led to the rise of tools like CodeWarrior by Metrowerks. As the industry migrated, legacy concepts from Think C informed later IDE designs at Apple Inc. and tool vendors such as Microsoft and Borland International. Collectors, historians, and preservation projects referencing the Macintosh software ecosystem document Think C alongside contemporaries like Symantec C++, Apple MPW, and third-party compilers in retrospectives and archives curated by organizations such as the Computer History Museum.
Category:Integrated development environments Category:Macintosh software