Re: Which GCC compiler for Linux-GNAT

[ALynch@slb.com]

Preben Randhol <randhol+news@pvv.org> wrote:
> Bernard WEISSER wrote:
[...]
>> With the arrival of the new LINUX Slackware 9.0 release, it appeared to 
>> me that now a full bunch of compilers is provided (and ready to use), 
>> namely : C, C++, F77 and GNAT 3.15. All these front-ends are based on 
>> the unique GCC 3.2.2 compiler version. Using this new GNAT version, I 
>> succeded to compile a rather complex Ada application, but it turned out 
>> that the binary run quickly ended with a CONSTRAINT_ERROR.

Same here with Red Hat 8.0. It appears to be the math functions that
are causing the trouble. There are at least two problem reports in the
bug database at http://gcc.gnu.org/ (PR6911 and PR9033). The first one
originated in the Debian bug tracking system and the discussion there
points to a more general problem with the support for assembly code
includes.


> The Gnat-gcc 3.x series are not up to speed yet, so wait with upgrading
> until they have finished porting them over to the Gcc 3.x backend.


Unfortunately the upgrading is done for many of us, due to the
featuritis that has infested the Linux distributors. Just like MS they
seem to think that everyone always wants the latest and greatest.

We are now using RH 8.0 because that is what the client wants - a few
months ago their baseline was still RH 7.1. "Luckily" this project is
in C++, but there are some modules which will be reimplementations of
existing Ada code. I have several test harnesses which I have been
using to compare output from the original Ada code with that of the
C++ implementation. None of them work on the new system, so I have to
keep switching between old and new environment.

What also worries me is the potential damage done to GNAT's reputation.
The major distributions advertise the fact that they have an Ada
compiler, unfortunately for the current releases it is almost useless.
A number of potential Ada newbies could be in for a disappointment.

Andrew.