On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 9:28 AM, Jakub Jelinek <ja...@redhat.com> wrote: > On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 08:20:05AM -0500, Gabriel Dos Reis wrote: >> The reason why I am mystified is that the people who seem to argue >> that it would be pointless to convert the existing codebase to C++ seem >> to be the same people who insist on seeing significant part of GCC >> converted to C++ before we switch to *building* stage1 with a C++ compiler. > > What is so puzzling about it? If we don't have a proof that what the GCC in > C++ proponents are wanting is actually beneficial for GCC, then just > switching building stage1 to C++ is not a step in the right direction, > it removes options from those that build GCC or at least makes building > GCC unnecessarily bigger hassle. > If the switch followed by several conversions to C++ is done on a branch > only and the merits are then judged afterwards, we don't do the problematic > step on the trunk until it actually gives some benefits (if ever).
Part of the reason this discussion is not reaching a consensus is because it is not addressing the real issue. The challenge is how to make GCC an attractive platform for developers -- how to attract new developers. Among FOSS compilers, LLVM attracts developers. Other than licensing and politics and marketing, the anecdotal comments from developers mention C++ as a technical reason. And other than existing GCC developers who are comfortable with the current C codebase, I think some participants in this thread are concerned that the C++ complaint is a red herring. In other words, some developers resist GCC because it does not match their comfort zone and when asked for a technical reason, C++ is an easy answer. I think some members of the GCC community have a nagging concern that even if GCC goes through the pain of transitioning to C++, it will not move the ball on attracting developers, but will divert resources and will discourage existing developers. We can experiment with C++ for style and debugging and optimization. But, fundamentally, we cannot perform the real experiment which is: Will transitioning GCC to G++ attract more developers to GCC. - David
