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From: kanner@tymix.UUCP (Herb Kanner)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c++
Subject: Query to Bjarne
Message-ID: <723@tymix.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 27-Mar-86 20:23:28 EST
Article-I.D.: tymix.723
Posted: Thu Mar 27 20:23:28 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 28-Mar-86 17:40:55 EST
Distribution: na
Organization: Tymnet Inc., Cupertino CA
Lines: 28


Here are a few questions, probably addressed to Bjarne Stroustrup, with
respect to the released version of the C++ compiler.

1) Is the assumption that the compiler is released in the form of C source
a correct one?

2) It is described as a front end, and in one of your news items you refer
to inspection of its C output.  You also specifically call it "a front-end
that translates C++ into C."  Later in the same sentence, you say that
cfront does all syntax and type checking and that the underlying C compiler
is used as a code generator only.  Superficially, this sounds like a
contradiction.  Is it that some options are set so that unnecessary
checking steps on the part of the C compiler are skipped because its input
is guaranteed to be clean?

3) How do you do debugging with the current product?  Is it to set dbx or 
sdb flags on the C compiler, capture a copy of the intermediate C, and work
with that?

4) We are planning to use C++ to cross compile for a stand-alone (non-UNIX)
environment.  What runtime functions must we implement in order to support
code generated by cfront?  What other problems in building such a cross
compiler might we expect?
-- 
Herb Kanner
McDonnell Douglas (TYMNET)
...!hplabs!oliveb!tymix!kanner