"James Kanze" <ja*********@gm ail.comwrote in message
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On Aug 8, 3:01 am, "JohnQ" <johnqREMOVETHI Sprogram...@yah oo.com>
wrote:
"Ian Collins" <ian-n...@hotmail.co mwrote in message
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JohnQ wrote:
"Chris Thomasson" <cris...@comcas t.netwrote in message
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"James Kanze" <james.ka...@gm ail.comwrote in message
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On Aug 1, 12:26 pm, "Bo Persson" <b...@gmb.dkwro te:
Miroslaw Makowiecki wrote:
>>>:: Where can I download Comeau compiler as a trial version?
:: Thanks in advice.
>>>You cannot. You can test-drive it on their web site though
>>>>http://www.comeaucomputing.com/tryitout/
>>The purchase price is also dirt cheap; something even a student
could afford.
>Right. Good price for a high quality product. Nice!
That's in addition to the compiler you must have to turn Comeau's
generated C code to machine code, yes? Why not just use the platform
compiler (VC++ on Windows, for example) in the first place? I don't
understand how adding translation steps and requiring more compilers is
good. I could see how many years ago when there weren't C++ compilers
available on most platforms how that would be good. But today??
You might want a better compiler!
1. I wouldn't call something that translates from one high
level language to another a compiler. (Just like I wouldn't
consider cfront one). I'd call the components that do
translation (to intermediate form) that occurs before the C
code generation a compiler front-end.
"Formally, you're probably correct, but practically, it comes out
to the same thing."
How can you consider "the same thing" having to have 2 tools installed
rather than just one to get the same result?
2. If by "better", you mean "better compliance with the
standard", well it would have to be an awfully critical need
for some feature that would cause one to go from a compiler to
a language-to-language translator.
"Better can mean many things: less bugs, more optimization,
stricter standards compliance... Off hand, Comeau beats VC++ two
out of three there."
But Comeau feed into VC++ (or g++), yes? It still seems like you have all
the issues with the platform compiler plus any issues with the front end.
"Better can also mean portability. One of the strongest motives
I know for using g++ is that I have the same compiler on all of
my platforms."
Though using different compilers does help check out your code better.
You'll probably write less portable code and have more bugs within the
safety of one compiler than if you were to build with many.
"Comeau offers the same advantage, with even better quality and better
standard compliance."
But it's still apples and oranges if you ask me because Comeau is not a
"from source to executable" product. It seems like a special-purpose product
to use when you want to code in C++ but one or more of your target platforms
doesn't have a C++ compiler. Yes?
"As to "language-to-language translator": Comeau is just using C
as a platform neutral intermediate representation. "
I don't think that is correct. I think it translates to
platform-compiler-specific C. (Which compilers it uses on which platforms, I
don't know. VC++ on Windows?)
"It's not
really converting C++ to C, at least not to any C you'd ever
want to see."
I don't see how the effects of using multiple compilers/tools wouldn't be
additive as far as the potential issues go. It's just that Comeau abstracts
one away from one set of the issues. But who's to say they're better at it
than you are?
It appears to me that you'd have to be targeting a lot of "weird" hardware
where Comeau is and other C++ compilers aren't, in or to be using the
product. If all your platforms had a C++ compiler or g++, you'd probably use
those/that.
"And who cares what intermediate representation is
being used. That's an internal detail of the compiler,
invisible to the user."
Having TWO intermediate representations doesn't seem good.
Also, there's 2 vendor dependencies: Comeau front end and the platform
compiler. Seems painful: more vendors, more pain. Am I missing some info?
Would you agree that if I was (just) developing GUI programs with wxWindows
on Windows and on FreeBSD/X I would not want to use Comeau?
John
