On 21 Nov 2002 at 15:54, Andrew McCall wrote:
[...]
Is there anyway that you could introduce compatibility for users that want it by using a compatibility library or compiler switch?
Switches such as "--borland-pascal" and "--delphi" do just that.
Its a simple logic really :
The people who don't want compatibility won't use it so won't care if compatibility is there or not.
Again, this describes the status quo. There are people on this list who don't care much for Borland's extensions, or indeed for any thing other than the ISO standards.
The people who *do* want it won't be happy if compatibility isn't there.
No they won't - but they might well have to live with it, if the consensus is that a particular extension should not be supported (or more likely, if Frank or Peter (who are very busy people) do not have the time to do it).
Thus, you might as well add compatibility, but get someone who *wants* it to maintain it. Then everyone is happy, and GPC gets a wider audience.
Good in principle - but ...
As long as it doesn't interfere with "normal" Pascal, I don't see what the issue is, other than the effort to add it - which would be the effort of someone who wants the compatibility....
This is where the "but" comes in. AFAIK, Peter is the only one who really knows all the deep internals of the compiler. Frank is the next most knowledgeable person, but might still require Peter's assistance on occasion. Other people know a bit about this or that, but, realistically (at present) only Peter and Frank have the knowledge to maintain any part of the compiler. Leave it to someone like me, and you will have a dead compiler ;-). I have lots of ideas (don't we all !) but not the knowledge or skill to implement them. Ideally, we will have umpteen people with the C-programming skills and the knowledge of the internals of the compiler to spread the load around - but we currently don't.
So, when a feature is requested "for GPC", this is merely short-hand for saying "Frank, would you please do it?". Frank needs to have a life (and I am sure he does!) so he can't do everything that everyone wants, even if he wanted to. I am afraid that, until sufficient numbers of us get the requisite C programming skills and sufficient knowledge of the compiler, it will not be feasible to "get someone who *wants* it maintain it".
Best regards, The Chief --------- Prof. Abimbola Olowofoyeku (The African Chief) Web: http://www.bigfoot.com/~african_chief/