You are correct, the compilers are typically written in C.

As for space missions, code may be written in a higher language such as C or something written specifically for space applications, but I do know that the compiled assembly code is analyzed line by line, by hand.

The original Space Shuttle computers were likened to glorified Apple II computers, since they used the same CPU. I believe they now use 486's. There is a lag for space related applications as hardware must be radiation hardened. All those laptops you see on the ISS are not mission critical, and are typically the crews personal laptops.

Regarding your statements about declares and arrays, that is very much like XBasic. In XB you can declare up to 8 dimension arrays with ranges as high as a 32 bit unsigned integer. But it won't take up any memory until you actually put values in the elements. You are only limited by available system memory.

I don't have any interest at this time of writing Perl programs for other than web design. So, I will likely not be using a lot of the deeper stuff, unless I start messing with MySQL databases or something like that.

I am a little puzzled by your statement that it takes 10 minutes for your code to load, though. I have to wonder if perhaps your code is not well optimized for the task. There's always more than one way to do things.

Brian