Standard header format.

[Steven T. Hatton]

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On Tuesday 08 June 2004 23:19, Dhruv Matani wrote:
> Hi,
> 	Well there's not much I can say, but just that the standard does not
> even require the standard headers to be files or any such remotely
> *parsable* (one that can be parsed by a parser) entity. For all you
> know, it can be compiled files, and the compiler may take care of the
> the instantiation using some complex machinery.
> 	Or the standard headers may even be code compiled directly into the
> compiler proper, and the #include is just a hint to the compiler, and
> maybe the preprocessor has nothing to do with
> #include<some_standard_header_name>. I'm not 100% sure about the
> technical correctness of the above statement, but it seems quite
> possible from my reading of the standard. There is nothing that says
> that #include<> directives may be ignored by the pre-processor, and that
> the compiler can interpret them as long as the user gets a runnable
> binary/object file.
>
> -Dhruv.

There is a catch all "as if" rule.  That is 1.9 paragraph 1, and footnote 5.  
You  are correct about the requirements of the Standard. I do not claim 
libstdc++ is not conforming to the Standard.  Am I suggesting the 
Standard /should/ require the Standard Headers should be self-describing? 
Well...yes.

- -- 
Regards,
Steven
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