On 01/18/2010 03:45 AM, Jerry Quinn wrote:
[also posted to D.gnu]
Hi, folks,
I'm interested in creating a D front end for GCC that would be part of the GCC
codebase. My feeling is that a GDC that is part of GCC distributions will
likely have more life than one that must be updated whenever a new GCC release
comes out. As with linux kernel in-tree drivers being kept up to date, an
integrated GDC would tend to move forward as well.
To do this though, copyright on the code must be assigned to the FSF. This
means that even though the DMD front end sources are licensed under the GPL,
they cannot be directly used to write this front end as the copyright is owned
by DigitalMars. Everyone who contributes code must not look at the DMD
compiler source code to avoid accidentally contributing code illegally.
Therefore, this will be a completely new implementation of D.
The obvious disadvantage of doing this is that it will be a slow process to get
to a working D compiler. However, one advantage to the D world is firming up
and validating the language specification so that the language is not defined
by what the DMD compiler does.
My personal desire is to implement (and track) the 2.0 language since I would
like to see that feature set available through GCC. Second, by the time a
working front end becomes part of GCC, the 2.0 language will likely be complete.
One question I have (of many) is whether a different name should be used. If
this is called GDC there will be some confusion with the current GDC. What
thoughts do you all have?
In general is there interest in this project, especially contributing to it?
Thanks,
Jerry
I do not want to discourage such a great project, especially since I
lack the skills myself to contribute. However I think helping either GDC
or LDC with their D2 branches and getting them into a distro will be far
more effective. Whatever you decide to embark on, wish you all the best!
