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Re: Switching to C++ by default in 4.8
On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 1:50 PM, Bernd Schmidt <bernds@codesourcery.com> wrote:
> On 04/04/2012 11:06 AM, Richard Guenther wrote:
>> So - I'll veto the switch unless I see 1) and 2). ?1) and 2) can be combined
>> by transitioning vec.h to a C++ template class, with proper GC support.
>> (not sure that I can veto anything - heh)
>
> I don't think I can veto anything, but I'll go on the record again
> saying that I don't think this entire plan is a good idea. Write a new
> project in C++? Absolutely. Convert a large existing one to a different
> language? A huge waste of time that will distract us for years from
> actual user-visible changes.
I agree for the idea of converting all of GCC to C++ (whatever that means).
I disagree for the part making the internal infrastructure easier to use,
understand and maintain. Which means targeting mostly isolated sub-systems,
like vec.h (and other various containers), double-int.[ch] (and other various
way of representing and working with constants). Making tree or gimple a
C++ class with inheritance and whatever is indeed a huge waste of time
and existing developer ressources (that, if only because they have to adapt
and maintain two completely different code-bases over some time).
I expect the GCC core to maintain written in C, compiled by C++.
> I also find debugging C++ in gdb somewhat more annoying than debugging
> plain C, and at the moment I always go back to a stage1 compiler.
Indeed - I'd be worried if my debugging efficiency decreases by more than 5%.
Richard.