binary metadata

[Tom Tromey]

>>>>> "Bryce" == Bryce McKinlay <mckinlay@redhat.com> writes:

Bryce> Yes, I think binary compatibility at the class/object level is very
Bryce> important for any modern OO language. The lack of this is a serious
Bryce> problem for C++, for example.

I completely agree with this.

>> Since D has all that Java stuff (Class metadata, garbage collection,
>> ...) it would be intersting to see where GCJ and D can meet. (perhaps
>> making D link against GCJ object files would be neat).

This sort of thing shouldn't be too hard, provided the D type system
is reasonably compatible with Java's, and provided the D runtime
structures are compatible (vtable and object layout, stuff like that).

If that can all be bridged, then there's just the question of exposing
java classes to the D compiler.  For this I would suggest adding a
class reader to the compiler.  (CNI takes another approach, generating
C++ header files from java class files.  For C++ this makes sense,
since defining how java class files would interact with cpp seems
yucky.  But my recollection is that D has a more real module
system...)

If you end up working in this area, let us know how it goes.  Feel
free to ask questions here, IMO this sort of interoperability is
interesting.

Tom