Re: general development question

["Martin v. Loewis" <martin at loewis dot home dot cs dot tu-berlin dot de>]

> Sorry that I must subject this list to my noise, but I really have
> no other source of (reliable) input. By day, I work as a perl/php/
> asp/unameit programmer in a web shop, and I don't know anyone else
> who uses c++, so I'm kinda on my own (unless one/some of you kind
> souls will advise) with this growing stack o' books that I read when
> I'm not butchering c++ :)

gcc-help@gcc.gnu.org would have been an alternative.

> 1) Which version of gcc/g++ are you using for development? binutils?

2.95.2, and depends on the platform. On Linux, use whatever comes with
the system, likewise for Cygwin. You could try to use one of HJ's
snapshots: they fix a lot of problems, but may introduce new ones.

> 2) Do you use any specialized tools/software to assist in development?
>    I'm currently using vim + cscope + ddd/gdb for my hackings.

Normally, no - except that I use Emacs instead of vim. At one time, I
also used Purify, which detects problems more easily than a debugger -
but they don't support the lates gcc releases, anymore; they never
supported Linux.

For part of the purify functionality, you can also use ElectricFence
and similar tools.

> 3) [started question about a TODO list, then I found:]
>        http://sourceware.cygnus.com/libstdc++/17_intro/TODO
>    Is this file up to date?

Almost, it seems. However, I just noticed that you seem to look into
using libstdc++ v3 for development. Please understand that libstdc++
v3 is under development itself - you may be better off using the C++
library that comes with gcc 2.95, unless you want to contribute to
libstdc++ development (which, of course, would be appreciated).

> 4) Is there another source the standard can be bought online?
>    I've tried to buy from the ansi site, but it always (too quickly!)
>    says my card is bad :\

Not that I know of, no. You can also order a printed copy from ANSI.

> 5) (Briefly) How different is the dec 96 working draft from the final
>    standard? i.e., should I be studying it, or should I wait until
>    I get my hands on the standard before burying my head?

If you need to learn C++, use the Stroustrup book, not the
standard. If you need to know for sure, don't use the draft. There are
only few big changes, but there are lots of little things that may
burn you. It would be really better if the copies of that draft were
removed from the net.

> 6) Is there a quick way to rebuild the library after modifying one
>    of the files? I've been saying 'make clean-target libstdc++-v3'
>    then 'make' in the $builddir... I hope there is a faster way :)

I believe you can invoke make in the directory containing the object
file.

> 7) Which things TODO would be most appropriate for a new contributor
>    to help with? -- assuming that _serious_ work is gonna have to be
>    done by someone whose head is already wrapped around the relevant
>    code.

Can't answer that one.

> 8) anybody around Raleigh up for a beer sometime?

Not me :-)

Martin