I've become very interested in the techniques used to link C++ compilation
units. In part this is due to the importance Stroustrup places on the
topic in D&E. Does anybody know of a good nuts and bolts discussion of the
primary approaches used by modern C++ build systems? I know this crosses
over into the area of operating systems, and is not directly addressed by
the C++ Standard. Nonetheless, it seems to be quite relevant in terms of
practical use of C++.
I don't want to dwell on this issue on comp.lang.c++ lest it offend the
sensibilities of the more intolerant participants in the newsgroup. I am,
however, interested in this information as it relates to C++ programming,
and therefore believe asking for references is legitimate use of this
forum. The two implementations I'm most interested in are Windows and
GNU/Linux. If there are particularly interesting techniques used on other
platforms, I would also be interested to know about those.
Of particular interest is the area of dynamic linking, and how it relates to
such language specific issues as the ODR.
--
If our hypothesis is about anything and not about some one or more
particular things, then our deductions constitute mathematics. Thus
mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we
are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.-Bertrand Russell
