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From: daves@curie.ces.CWRU.Edu (Dave Stoutamire)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: GNU g++ not ready for anything at all.
Message-ID: <DAVES.91Jan14201919@curie.ces.CWRU.Edu>
Date: 15 Jan 91 01:19:19 GMT
References: <1991Jan10.202317.161@ee.ualberta.ca> <16008@ogicse.ogi.edu>
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In-Reply-To: maxwebb@ogicse.ogi.edu's message of 14 Jan 91 23:59:53 GMT
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In article <16008@ogicse.ogi.edu> maxwebb@ogicse.ogi.edu (Max G. Webb) writes:

   Just as a data point for everybody out there deciding whether
   to use g++: Last semester I wrote a neural net simulator in g++;
   I already had some experience in c++ (AT&Ts version), and in
   other OOPL's, and have been a programmer since '78.

   My impression was that the bugginess of the implementation has
   *DOUBLED* my implementation time. Recent releases (37.1) only
   seem to add to my work, by failing to compile code that used to work.

   So if you value your time (which it will waste), or your hair (which
   you will tear out), or your cool (which you will lose),
   go somewhere else. g++ will bring you mucho pain.

I have a similar view after spending the last year using g++.  However,
I am still using it, and recommend it, because:

	o  It is free.  Whaddya want?

	o  It isn't THAT bad.  Most of the errors I found were cosmetic
	   rather than fatal (i.e., bogus warnings).  All the problems
	   I DID find were work-around-able, once I knew that they were
	   compiler bugs and not my own.

	o  Response time on reported bugs is pretty good.  There are
	   people working on them as we speak.  G++ is getting better.

	o  A bug-free g++ is a Very Good Thing for the world to have.
	   The more people use it and report bugs, the faster this goal
	   will be approached.  The other compilers also have bugs.

So yes, it has problems, but I think they are worth overlooking for the
moment so the world does get a solid free c++ compiler.  In the short term,
you're right: it's a buggy compiler.  In the long term, it is a very
good compiler whose development time was worth waiting for.  Gcc took
a while too, but look at it now.  G++ is fairly recent in comparison.
--
   daves@alpha.ces.cwru.edu  |   David Stoutamire, 
                             |   gradual student of Computer Engineering
   (216) 368-5038            |   at Case Western Reserve University