On Thursday, 21 March 2019 at 22:51:21 UTC, James Blachly wrote:
Thanks -- I also tried to figure out how to install GDC just yesterday and gave up. All wiki links and google top results seemed dead ends.
I'm also a little puzzled by how GDC is structured, but I have learned a few things with the help of some of the GDC developers, and I'll share my understanding below (though be aware that my assumptions may be wrong).
GDC is in a weird state right now where it needs to boostrap itself. The bootstrap compiler has a front-end written in C++, but the lastest GDC on GitHub has a front-end written in D.
My understanding is that this bootstrap compiler with the front-end written in C++ is what is being released with GCC 9. Since GCC always needs to be able to be built with a prior version of GCC, GCC 10 will be the first release with the latest D frontend.
So, to build your own GDC compiler, you need to first build the bootstrap compiler. I have a script for that at https://github.com/JinShil/native-gdc
Then, using the bootstrap compiler, you can build the latest GDC with the D frontend from GitHub. I have a script for that too, but it is only for building an ARM cross-compiler. See https://github.com/JinShil/arm-none-eabi-gdc
Mike
