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 >
Google's Go will be in GCC. http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2010-01/msg00500.html . They are pushing it very hard.
