Index: README =================================================================== --- README (revision 51b734528489f81a5af985bfee9aa3b6625b9774) +++ README (revision 6244dfb9b0062e49cf3bf4ca00c1139881b7972e) @@ -2,81 +2,73 @@ ====================================== -This is a PRE-RELEASE version of cfa-cc. It exists solely for the -purpose of private experimentation and scholarly research. The authors -disclaim all responsibility for the consequences of any malfunction of -the software, including the malfunction of any programs compiled using -the software. +This is a PRE-RELEASE version of cfa-cc. It exists solely for the purpose of +private experimentation and scholarly research. The authors disclaim all +responsibility for the consequences of any malfunction of the software, +including the malfunction of any programs compiled using the software. What is Cforall? ---------------- -Cforall is a language design extending ISO C. The purpose of the -project is to engineer modern language features into C in an -evolutionary rather than revolutionary way. Java is an example of the -revolutionary approach of modernizing C/C++, resulting in a new -language rather than an extension of its descendents. C++, Fortran 95 -and Cobol 9X are examples of the evolutionary approach where modern -language features are added and problems fixed within the framework of -an existing language. +Cforall is a language design extending ISO C. The purpose of the project is to +engineer modern language features into C in an evolutionary rather than +revolutionary way. Java is an example of the revolutionary approach of +modernizing C/C++, resulting in a new language rather than an extension of its +descendents. C++, Fortran 95 and Cobol 9X are examples of the evolutionary +approach where modern language features are added and problems fixed within the +framework of an existing language. -The goal of this project is to produce a largely backwards compatible -version of C containing many modern language features and fixing some -of the well known C problems. Without continued development of the -language, C will be unable to cope with the needs of modern programming -problems and programmers; as a result, it will fade into disuse. -Considering the large body of existing C code and programmers, there is -a significant impetus to ensure C is transformed into a modern -programming language. +The goal of this project is to produce a largely backwards compatible version +of C containing many modern language features and fixing some of the well known +C problems. Without continued development of the language, C will be unable to +cope with the needs of modern programming problems and programmers; as a +result, it will fade into disuse. Considering the large body of existing C +code and programmers, there is a significant impetus to ensure C is transformed +into a modern programming language. What is cfa-cc? --------------- -cfa-cc is a collection of programs centred around a translator that -takes Cforall code as input and outputs corresponding C code. This -is complemented by a compiler driver in the style of "gcc", which -handles preprocessing, compiling, assembling, and linking and invokes -the translator at appropriate moments. +cfa-cc is a collection of programs centred around a translator that takes +Cforall code as input and outputs corresponding C code. This is complemented +by a compiler driver in the style of "gcc", which handles preprocessing, +compiling, assembling, and linking and invokes the translator at appropriate +moments. What is required in order to use cfa-cc? ---------------------------------------- -Building cfa-cc requires GNU Make and gcc/g++ 3. cfa-cc is written in -C++. +Building cfa-cc requires GNU Make and gcc/g++ 4. cfa-cc is written in C++. -The compiler driver uses an installed version of gcc to handle all -aspects of the compilation process except for the Cforall->C translation. -Currently, only gcc 3.2 is supported. +The compiler driver uses an installed version of gcc to handle all aspects of +the compilation process except for the Cforall->C translation. Currently, only +gcc 4.x is supported. How is cfa-cc used? ------------------- -The compiler driver "cfa" accepts all of the arguments of gcc, and is -used in the same way. For example: +The compiler driver "cfa" accepts all of the arguments of gcc, and is used in +the same way. For example: cfa -c test.c cfa test.o -Cforall source files must end with '.c' in order to be compiled by the -compiler driver. In addition, the flag "-CFA" causes cfa to invoke the -preprocessor and translator and send the translator output to standard -output. +Cforall source files must end with '.c' in order to be compiled by the compiler +driver. In addition, the flag "-CFA" causes cfa to invoke the preprocessor and +translator and send the translator output to standard output. -In cases where the compiler driver is not useful (i.e., where gcc 3.2 -is not available), it is still possible to invoke the translator -directly. The translator is installed by default as -/usr/local/lib/cfa-cpp. A typical invocation is: +It is possible to invoke the translator directly. The translator is installed +by default as /usr/local/lib/cfa-cpp. A typical invocation is: /usr/local/lib/cfa-cpp -cp infile outfile -If outfile is omitted, output goes to standard output; if infile is -also omitted, input comes from standard input. Options to the -translator other than "-cp" will not produce valid C code and are only -useful for debugging the translator. +If outfile is omitted, output goes to standard output; if infile is also +omitted, input comes from standard input. Options to the translator other than +"-cp" will not produce valid C code and are only useful for debugging the +translator. How can C code be used with cfa-cc? ----------------------------------- -cfa-cc should be able to compile most ANSI C programs. It is also -possible to link against C libraries in most cases. Since Cforall -supports overloading, however, names used in Cforall code are -mangled in the output C code. This will cause linker failures when -the names refer to functions and objects in code compiled with -a standard C compiler. For this reason, it is necessary to enclose -the declarations of these functions and objects in extern "C" {} +cfa-cc should be able to compile most ANSI C programs. It is also possible to +link against C libraries in most cases. Since Cforall supports overloading, +however, names used in Cforall code are mangled in the output C code. This +caused linker failures when the names refer to functions and objects in code +compiled with a standard C compiler. For this reason, it is necessary to +enclose the declarations of these functions and objects in extern "C" {} blocks. For example: @@ -87,38 +79,32 @@ The extern "C" turns off name mangling for functions and objects declared -within the block. As a result, it is not possible to overload their -names. - -It is our intention to have a transparent solution to this problem -in place for our first official release. +within the block. As a result, it is not possible to overload their names. What's wrong with cfa-cc? ------------------------- -The authors consider this software to be in an unstable state. It is -quite likely that there are many reasonable programs that will fail -to compile. We encourage users to report their experiences to -cforall@plg.uwaterloo.ca, but we make no promises regarding support. -We have fixed most of the problems that we are aware of. There are -some exceptions: +The authors consider this software to be in an unstable state. It is quite +likely that there are many reasonable programs that will fail to compile. We +encourage users to report their experiences to cforall@plg.uwaterloo.ca, but we +make no promises regarding support. - - initializers are poorly implemented; in particular, - file-scope initializers may result in the generation of invalid - C code +We have fixed most of the problems that we are aware of. There are some +exceptions: - - the ISO C99 designated initialization syntax '[n] = m' or - '.n = m' is not supported; use a colon in place of the equal sign - - - some legitimate programs will produce warnings from the C - compiler; these are harmless (in particular, the creation of - libcfa.a in the build process should cause four warnings from - gcc) +- initializers are poorly implemented; in particular, file-scope initializers + may result in the generation of invalid C code - - abstract types introduced using the keyword 'type' are not - implemented (although 'type' can be used to introduce type - parameters) +- the ISO C99 designated initialization syntax '[n] = m' or '.n = m' is not + supported; use a colon in place of the equal sign - - the implicit coercion of structure types to the type of their - first member is not implemented +- some legitimate programs will produce warnings from the C compiler; these are + harmless (in particular, the creation of libcfa.a in the build process should + cause four warnings from gcc) + +- abstract types introduced using the keyword 'type' are not implemented + (although 'type' can be used to introduce type parameters) + +- the implicit coercion of structure types to the type of their first member is + not implemented Who is responsible for cfa-cc?