Re: Mixing Cygnus & Gnat compilers on the same machine

["Ben Brosgol" <brosgol@world.std.com>]

Below is Robert Dewar's response to some of Marin's comments in this thread.

Ben Brosgol
Ada Core Technologies
brosgol@gnat.com

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First, there is no problem in having g++ and gnat compilers on the same
machine, many of our customers are using such a setup to compile mixed
language programs.

Second, Marin said:

> Will this ever happen? Ada being part of the regular gcc distribution,
> that is. It would seem like it would be putting Ada in front of lots more
> people - don't know what that may do so the ACT business model, though...)

Read the gcc mailing list archives to know more about the plans and progress
here. I am not sure what the reference to the ACT business model is about,
we don't see it as having any significant relevance. Our typical customers
are definitely not interested in building their own unsupported untested
versions of GNAT from source using the latest snapshots. The purpose of
including GNAT in the gcc releases is multi-fold, most notably it means that
it is easier for GCC developers to ensure that their changes do not
discombobulate GNAT. As to whether it will put Ada in front of lots more
people, not so clear, remember that the gcc site only distributes sources,
not binaries. So someone has to build binaries and make them available, just
as is the case now.

> The big advantage I would have with a common GNAT/gcc would be that the
> Cygnus compiler would suddenly start translating Ada code for my Mips
> embedded processor - making it possible to substitute Ada where now C
> exists. But I'd expect it would take a good long time for that to migrate
> into my PC here at work...

This is a significant misconception. GNAT will only work on targets to which
it has been ported, just as is the case now, Marin seems to think some magic
will occur that will automatically generate working GNAT's on all machines
for which gcc ports exist, but that obviously is not the case.

Robert Dewar
Ada Core Technologies