From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,8a402d78988bdf2b X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-12-22 07:31:30 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news2.google.com!newsfeed2.dallas1.level3.net!news.level3.com!news-out.visi.com!petbe.visi.com!proxad.net!fr.ip.ndsoftware.net!npeer.de.kpn-eurorings.net!rz.uni-karlsruhe.de!feed.news.schlund.de!schlund.de!news.online.de!not-for-mail From: "Ekkehard Morgenstern" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: [announcement] SYSAPI and SYSSVC for Windows Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 16:31:26 +0100 Organization: 1&1 Internet AG Message-ID: References: <1071846912.728815@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <1071852533.241196@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> <1072105705.142888@master.nyc.kbcfp.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: p508c03bf.dip0.t-ipconnect.de Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: online.de 1072107090 27295 80.140.3.191 (22 Dec 2003 15:31:30 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@einsundeins.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 15:31:30 +0000 (UTC) X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1158 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1165 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:3697 Date: 2003-12-22T16:31:26+01:00 List-Id: "Hyman Rosen" wrote: > One of the evolutionary aspects of GNAT is its ability to provide > clear and coherent error messages that direct the programmer's > attention to the most likely problem in an incorrect program. This > has come about through years of feedback, where users of GNAT report > messages which are less than what they would like to see, and GNAT > is augmented to handle those cases. This a very good aspect of GNAT that I already realized when using it. Before I can make a decision whether to port GNAT and the GCC, I will have to take a look at its source. I will do that soon. As I understand the GCC bootstrapping phase, I will have to write a minimal C compiler that conforms to some rules, and then I can compile with it the first stage of GCC, and with that the second, and so on. And then I just need to recompile the GNU libraries and the GNAT compiler. However, I haven't looked at the GCC source for some years, so I have to update myself on that first. My only concern is, that I won't need all the stuff that comes with the GCC, the GNU libraries and GNAT. The whole concept also makes assumptions about storage of source files. I want to store all code and sources into a database and read them from there. Since my database supports versioning, the scope of file names is inappropriate. My compiler shall work without files, since I want to use it to write the base of an operating system. Since many of the GNU projects are file-based, this might present a problem. > Without examining GNAT's code, and without access to its test suite, > you will not have the benefit of those feedbacks, and your error > messages will be of low quality. This might indeed be a problem. Perhaps my Ada compiler will only be for writing the base code that can boot and run the operating system, and then I can use a POSIX layer to support the GNU stuff, including GNAT. So on my OS, you would still be able to use GNAT, if you want to. I'm using my own compiler-generation tools, and I will write new ones for Ada, but the automated translation approach that I've chosen leaves little possibility for good error messages. In the horrible first version of my compiler-generator, the source text would just be accepted or rejected, resulting in a single error message! ;) -- of course I cannot uphold that for compilers that are used by the general public. I will think of a better concept for my compiler-creation tools that will allow better checks. :)