Some questions regarding contributing

[Andrew Haley]

Gueven Bay writes:

 > I want to help the gcj project.
 >  
 > But I have some questions:
 > 
 > a) There is a "src.zip" archive coming with the installation of the
 > Sun JDK that contains the implementation of the Java API's.
 > Are you working with this archive?

No.

 > Can I look into these archive to
 > get some ideas how to implement the classes for gcj?

No.

 > Or do you developing blindly only with the help of the Spec Books?

That's right.  In fact, if you have read Sun's source we can't accept
any patches from you.

 > b) If you don't look into this "src.zip" how can you generate the
 > comparison between libgcj and jdk14(for example) ?

 > c)In the table that shows the diffs of libgcj vs Classpath what
 > does the "VM-specific" and "GCJ-specific" mean? Have I to use some
 > special software to merge Classpath with libgcj or can I do it
 > manually?

You shouldn't do this merge.  We do that.

 > d) Is there any testsuite that compares the results of libgcj
 > (Classpath) against the results of the Sun JDK - i mean a
 > comparison method by method - ? This should proof that you are
 > implementing the Spec's in the right way.

Yes.  There are several. We use Mauve.

Andrew.