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Re: -fdump-translation-unit considered harmful
Robert Dewar wrote:
> I assume you are aware of the non-technical difficulties with such an
> approach, but just to continue with the technical discussions, I think
> that an output of this kind is only a first step. What is really needed
> is something analogous to the ASIS interface in Ada, i.e. a well defined
> API that let's programs make structured queries on the semantics of a
> parsed program. This approach has several advantages:
<snip advantages>
4. A binary API that interfaced with GCC would require the client party
to the interface to adhere to the GPL, and thereby require the client to
be /free software/. Would this address Richard Stallman's concerns
about the danger of making it easy for proprietary non-free programs to
freeload off GCC?
In terms of interface design, if a file format could be created that
would insulate a user from casual changes to GCC internals, then so
could a binary interface.
I understand the "GCC should be a compiler only." arguments, but it
seems there is a genuine demand in the free software community for a
high-quality source analyzer, particularly for languages like C++ where
this is not trivial. GCC seems to be very nearly where it needs to be
to fill this need.
Aaron W. LaFramboise