C++ front end

[Richard Earnshaw]

> It is perfectly possible to write a front end in C++ and I see no objections
> in doing so. Naturally you would want to ensure that the front end is
> compilable with the current version of g++ and stays that way :-)
> 
> Note that writing a front end for C++ in C++ would also be possible, but
> would acquire some of the problems that GNAT has (since then you would have
> to find a working binary to bootstrap, just as you have to find a working
> GNAT binary to compile GNAT).

Writing a front end in C++ is certainly possible, but it would break the 
current 3-stage bootstrap-compare process, since the stage-1 build only 
creates a C compiler.

We would need to go to a four-stage build to support this (or not do a 
compare on those front ends that required C++).

R

Building C++ during stage1 would introduce even more potential problems 
than the recently debated switch to ISO C for the C compiler.