On Tuesday, 12 May 2015 at 15:03:59 UTC, Andrei Alexandrescu
wrote:
On 5/12/15 4:47 AM, Daniel Murphy wrote:
"Andrei Alexandrescu" wrote in message
news:mis2ub$j0s$1...@digitalmars.com...
Can we automate installation of the last C++-based dmd via
scripting?
-- Andrei
Can't people just use dvm? I suppose we could add a makefile
target
that grabs the zip or something...
dvm is fine as long as its installation itself is automated.
Sadly I just hit this matter head-on after updating dmd last
night. It seems to me unacceptable to leave the build process
flapping in the wind like that. Guess I'll need to work on that.
Andrei
Automating the installation of the last C++-based dmd is one
(good and necessary thing).
But either I am mistaken, or in future years you shall still face
a choice between manually hacking up Phobos and DMD so they
compile under this last C++-based dmd (a gulf which will widen
increasingly) or you need to iteratively build compilers to cross
the multiple-version bridges where changes to the source of
dmd+phobos mean that they no longer compile with the last but one
version.
Thought experiment (I am making up the numbers, and in practice
the gap between incompatible compilers and dmd+phobos source will
be several releases):
suppose the last C++-based dmd is 2.05.
and suppose 2.05 dmd compiles 2.06 but not 2.07
and suppose 2.06 dmd compiles 2.07 but not 2.08
If you are porting dmd to a new platform (and I suppose this is
true for all other D compilers since they, too, will move to
using ddmd), then it's not just enough to download dmd 2.05.
You have to download 2.05, compile it using a C++ compiler. Now
you can download the 2.06 source, compile it so you have a dmd
2.06. You can't compile the latest release 2.08 so you either
need to hack the source, or download 2.07, compile it with 2.06
and _then_ compile 2.08.
Over time this will become more of a nuisance, because it's not
necessarily the case on a new platform that it all just works.
So unless I have got it wrong, it's worth changing tools now so
the bootstrap from the last c++ dmd to the latest ddmd is done
for you.
