Re: Bootstrapping a null procedure. Seriously?!

[Georg Bauhaus <rm.dash-bauhaus@futureapps.de>]

On 11.03.13 11:37, Diogenes wrote:
> I've been doing some binder experiments with this little gem....
>
> procedure nullmain is

> Been doing it to see just how many packages from the runtime have to be linked in order for the the thing to DO NOTHING!

> Tips?

Compilers may let you choose run-time systems.
With GNAT, look up --RTS, pragma No_Run_Time,
Configurable Runtime, and related documentation.

A program nullmain is quite rare; I'd therefore not expect
special circuitry to be built into the compiler for just
this null program. Rather, a run-time system of an
Ada compiler supports full Ada programs by default,
including tasking and exceptions. See below, and above.

The program nullmain doesn't actually do nothing.
For a start, you can run the resulting executable,
This creates a state change in your computer.
OK, this may be nitpicking.

Nullmain is, however, going to run as required by Ada,
and as a rule of thumb, every statement can raise
storage error, which might well be what an author
of a null program wishes to happen, for testing, say.

Nullmain will be running as part of the environment task,
as expected.

Nullmain may also be just a partition of a program, for some
reason however likely or unlikely. Etc.

That's the default. Choose a smaller run-time and
add configuration pragmas as needed, if you need to.