Re: problem with Apple's customised gcc compiler

[Eljay Love-Jensen <eljay at adobe dot com>]

Hi Tony,

>But this surly must be an error not a warning. ... The compiler generated 
only a warning.

No, it's not an error.  Strange as that may seem.  Part of the C legacy.

To put it in assembly terms:  you are allowed to populate the registers 
with whatever information you want before returning to the caller.  Even if 
your assembly routine's "contract" doesn't explicitly state that any 
registers will have some useful information in them.

C is closer in spirit (in my opinion) to a macro assembly language (say, 
Macro68 for the Amiga).  C++ is closer in spirit to higher level languages 
(say, Smalltalk, Lisp, or Simula).

Now that's merely my opinion; I'm not trying to start a flame war over what 
language is "better" than another.  All languages have their place... even 
ones like False and Brainf**k.  Computer languages are just tools; some 
tools are better suited for particular tasks than other tools.

"When C++ is your hammer, all your problems look like thumbs."
~ Eric Scouten

>Should I report this to Apple?

No.  It's not a bug.

>By the way, could I use the true gcc compiler and Apple's customised 
version on the same machine without conflict? How do I do this?

I would compile the GCC compiler such that it would reside in your home 
directory (e.g., /Users/tonybao/gcc/...), which you can configure during 
the, er, umm, configure process.

For information as to the care-and-feeding (set up and install) of GCC, 
please read the manuals <http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/>/

Side note:  Apple's tweaked/custom version of GCC is a "true GCC 
compiler".  I presume what you meant was "...a vanilla gcc compiler...".

Another way you can use a vanilla GCC, is to install Darwin (sans OS 
X).  That should be more like a GNU/Linux-ish experience.  Please, FreeBSD 
and Darwin aficionados, don't throw rotten tomatoes at me for the Linux 
comparison.  They're all cool.  I consider that a compliment.

HTH,
--Eljay