Re: Is C++ really used ?

John Lilley (jlilley@empathy.com) wrote:


  ``But the real question is "why isn't C++ used for *compilers*". I
      offer that the main reason is portabilty. You must bootstrap the
      compiler from an existing base. If the compiler is written in C++ and
      you want it to be portable across several platforms, it is a nightmare
      trying to reconcile the various flavors of C++ that abound. It is
      also a bootstrapping problem, and it is more likely that you will
      encounter a viable "C" compiler on whatever system than a viable C++
      compiler.


      My is verified by the approaches of GNU g++ (which has a mission of
      being written only in "C"), and of Edison Design Group (who sell a
      very-high-quality, portable C++ front-end written in "C").''


Although this example might sound reasonable, it is easy to provide a
strong counter example, which in fact is an argument for using C++ to
implement a C++ compiler.


The counter example is the GNU Ada (GNAT) compiler, which is written
using Ada-95. It uses the gcc backend just like the g++ compiler.
Originally there was a plan to be able to generate code for some
virtual machine or assembly-like (thus horribly inefficient) C code
for bootstrapping purposes.


It turned out that the cross-compiling capabilities of gcc where
adaquate for bootstrapping the compiler on a new platform. Only very
early in the development an existing Ada-83 compiler was used to
bootstrap GNAT. As soon as GNAT could compile itself the Ada-83
compiler was retired and the GNAT could use more new language
capabilities as they were implemented.


There are several reasons not to write an Ada or C++ compiler in
C. First a compiler for a complex language like Ada or C++ is a very
large and complex piece of software. The reason of the existance of
Ada and C++ is precisely because they are more suited for this kind of
software.


Another argument is that implementing a compiler in language X gives
the developers much experience in using language X for a complex piece
of software. When you implement X using language Y, I don't think that
is very good for the understanding of the use of X in actual projects.


I'd rather have a compiler for X developed by people that have
real-world experience with delivering complex software written in
X. When the developers *do* have this kind of experience, but choose
to use language Y anyway, I would wonder why I should use language X
for my own projects. (This assumes X and Y are both general purpose
languages, like C, C++ and Ada.)


Regards,
      Geert
--

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.