On 30 May 2000, Alexandre Oliva wrote:
> On May 29, 2000, Mo DeJong <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > How much interest would there be in adding Java to the
> > autoconf supported languages?
>
> It'd certainly be appreciated. But we have to be careful, since there
> are two (three?) kinds of Java compilers: those that translate Java
> source to bytecode, and those (that?) that translate(s?) Java source
> (or bytecode) to object code.
>
> We could certainly ``steal'' automake's AM_PROG_GCJ (renamed to
> AC_PROG_GCJ) for the second (and third) uses, but we'd still need
> something like AC_PROG_JAVAC, which seems to be what you already have:
> it should look for at least javac, jikes, `$JAVA at.dms.kjc.Main'
> (Kopi) and `gcj -C', but determining the preference order is not easy.
> I, for one, have found packages that will build with some, but not
> all, of these compilers.
>
> I'd certainly welcome this effort, but I don't think this is something
> for autoconf 2.50. I suggest that you start by contributing your
> macros to the autoconf macro archive. Then, after the release, we
> could merge them into autoconf. How does this sound for you?
I am not really interested in doing that. If Java is not going to
be one of the "standard languages" in the next version of autoconf,
then I would be better off just using my own macros. The whole
reason I want to see Java support in autoconf is to avoid the
the following scenario:
Q: Can I use Java in autoconf?
A: Sure just go to this site and download a bunch of
unsupported macros that may or may not work. Then
figure out how to install them. Finally, cross
your fingers, hope, and press the enter key.
Q: I tried that and I can't figure out how to get things
working. What should I do?
A: Send that Mo guy email until he fixes the problem.
Mo Dejong
Red Hat Inc.
