Re: Looking for a smart linker for GNAT/DOS

[dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

<<This 47k basis is not annoying but the fact that 100% of each new added
package is linked although a part of it (maybe a few tenth for a graphics
package, a few thousends for a numerics package like LAPACK) is really used.>>

Of course, that is certainly so -- it is, as you note, a linker issue. But
what I was saying was that this is not the reason for the base sizes that
you quote. 

It is certainly the case that in large programs, the elimination of unused
subprograms would save a lot of code.

We are currently developing a tool that will in fact operate at the front end
level and allow complete elimination of unused subprograms. This will be
useful on systems where the linker is not smart enough, which unfortunately
is the great majority of systems (both Unix and DOS have traditions of very
simple stupid linkers -- as far as I know, only AIX among standard Unix
impementations has a linker that eliminates unused subprograms.