Hello,

I read somewhere that gcd and gcc will be merged:
http://forum.dlang.org/thread/kyoredrrscclqziyaesp@forum.dlang.org?page=1

But I cannot understand how different languages can use the same compiler.

D is not far from c/c++ but it has its own hacks, right ?

Are gdc devs developping D as close as c/c++ as possible ?

I cannot understand how it will work.

If someone could enlighten me on the logical and what to expect, please, tell me.

Many thanks,

See you,

Larry

On Thu, 2013-08-01 at 10:12 +0200, Larry wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I read somewhere that gcd and gcc will be merged: http://forum.dlang.org/thread/kyoredrrscclqziyaesp@forum.dlang.org?page=1
> 
> But I cannot understand how different languages can use the same compiler.

GCC is structured as front ends and backends. Different language front ends are possible, so C, C++, D, Go all have fronts ends as part of GCC. The backends determine what machine code is generated, so Intel, ARM, etc. GCC is thus a compiler framework. one of the componenets is gcc the C compiler one is g++ the C++ compiler on is gccgo for Go and gdc for D.

> D is not far from c/c++ but it has its own hacks, right ?

D is a long, long way from C++ thankfully!

> Are gdc devs developping D as close as c/c++ as possible ?

No.

> I cannot understand how it will work.

Hopefully the above is illuminating.

> If someone could enlighten me on the logical and what to expect, please, tell me.
> 
> Many thanks,
> 
> See you,
> 
> Larry

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Currently, GCC (Gnu Compiler Collection) already handles C, C++, Objective-C, Java, Fortran, Ada and Go.

This is done by dividing compilers in 2 : a front end component, which translates a source language (such as C or D) to an intermediate format, and a back end component, which takes stuff generated by the front end and creates a binary. All these languages have separate front ends, but share a common back end.

GDC reuses the GCC back end but is not an official GCC-related project. You don't get GDC when you download GCC. They are separate. When GCC devs make decision, they don't have to take D into account. Making things official should increase the visibility of D and its popularity.

Thank you !

Yes it is illuminating :)

So to sum up : when D devs say "We will merge with gcc" I should understand -> "We will bring our own interface to gcc, so that people installing gcc install D frontend as well".

The current main work is to adapt the D framework (gdc alone) to gcc to make it appliable with gcc rules.

Yes it is definitely clear it will help the D language.
At least, on debian for those using Sid (I will next week :) )

I get it right ?

Many many thanks to all of you guys, you rock taking your time explaining such things to a noob :)

See you,

Larry