Re: gnat GPL 2010 or gcc/ada?

[Ludovic Brenta <ludovic@ludovic-brenta.org>]

Nasser M. Abbasi wrote:
> Basic question: I've always been confused about which "Ada" to use.
>
> If one wants to write some program in Ada for school,
> and want to use Ada. Should one download gcc which has
> Ada in it, or download gnat GPL 2010?
>
> Can someone, using simple words, explain which one of
> the above should one install? For example, gnatmake comes
> with both gcc/ada and gnat GPL 2010?  Should one use gnatmake
> or the new gpl configuration files to build an Ada program?

They both have gnatmake and they both use the same .gpr project files
(which have been "new" for 9 years or so).  You can also use gprbuild
for mixed-language development, it also uses the same project files
but can drive compilers for languages other than Ada.  Gprbuild is
separate from GCC.

I think the decision should depend on your platform.  If your platform
provides precompiled binaries, you should use them; that is the case
in particular for Debian & derivatives (which also include gprbuild as
a separate package), Gentoo and the *BSDs.  If your platform does not,
then GNAT GPL Edition is probably what you want. It will provide
binaries of the compiler and GPS but only sources for all other
libraries, so you'll have to recompile quite a lot (e.g. GtkAda).

Another factor in your decision is the licensing terms of the run-time
library: pure GPL for GNAT GPL Edition, GPL with Runtime Exception for
GCC.

HTH

--
Ludovic Brenta.