On 12/11/10 2:46 PM, Michael Stover wrote:
Having to use the dmc compiler on windows in order to leverage legacy C++ code while being able to move on with new D code doesn't sound like too much of a restriction. Is there a similar tool that allows linking D and C++ on linux and mac?
You don't need any »similar tool« for statically linking C with D code on Linux or Mac – DMD produces standard ELF resp. Mach-O code there.
The problem you mentioned exists just on Windows, where DMD unfortunately generates object files/libraries in the fairly obscure OMF, whereas most other compilers use the PE/COFF format.
I understand that Walter had reasons when he picked OMF for DMD (experience, compatibility with his own C++ compiler), but in practice this can be a huge pain – you can't ignore that MSVC is what everyone uses on Windows, plus MinGW for some open source projects, both of which use COFF for their object files.
Since switching to DMC is not at all trivial in many cases (reasons include the build systems, not being able to use any precompiled packages, non-standard extensions, …), the issue is often worked around by building a DLL out of the C/C++ code, which is then loaded at runtime.
David
