In some of the kernel experimenting I do, I use djgpp a lot because the a.out format supports mixed 16- and 32-bit relocations, while the native windows mingw does not. So, I like the idea of using gcc.
And here comes the "but." The reason I'm suggesting Open Watcom is because there is only one very old, abandoned version of gcc that supported real mode 16-bit code. Since we have to produce 16-bit code, I see Open Watcom produces 16-bit code and is support, in my opinion making it the best choice. Hence the recommendation. Of course we could have taken on producing a 16-bit gcc back end, but I think it's beyond of the scope of the project. Moving forward, I'd like to see gcc for all 32- and 64-bit development, but that's up in the air for now. Pat Project Coordinator On Sat, Aug 21, 2010 at 8:33 AM, Walt Nagel <[email protected]> wrote: > Pat, > > I believe that it is a good idea to concentrate on one compiler. The choice > of compiler, even a specific implementation of the compiler, can affect many > parts of the code. Trying to create #if-#else macros to handle several > different compilers can be daunting to create and difficult to maintain. > Although the Open Watcom compiler is pretty decent, I would be happier if > the linker was a bit more straight forward. > > Another possibility worth considering is MinGW/GCC. As long as GCC is > "under development," by extension, MinGW will be, as well. The question here > would be, do you want to use Windows, Linux or DOS as the development > platform -- Windows allows a smoother development environment (e.g., > Dev-Cpp), while DOS (DJGPP), of course, allows continued development from > FreeDOS, without an additional op sys. Even though the underlying basic > compilers are the same, the 3 choices are not completely compatible, so a > choice of platform at the outset is necessary. (Conversely, nearly all code > is transportable among the various implementations.) > > Bottom line: I could live and work with either choice -- Open Watcom or > GCC. > > Walt > > > --- On *Sat, 8/21/10, Pat Villani <[email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: Pat Villani <[email protected]> > Subject: [Freedos-devel] Standardized development tools > To: [email protected] > Date: Saturday, August 21, 2010, 12:44 AM > > > Folks, > > I'm thinking it would be a good idea to standardize on one C/C++ compiler > for the project. I'm looking at the Open Watcom compiler and would like > your opinion. Reason for this suggestion is that it is the only real mode > compiler still under development and supported. > > This doesn't mean that I want to drop the build options currently in our > source code. Instead, I'd like to add Open Watcom to FreeCOM, install and > memory configs and build official releases with Open Watcom. > > Care to share? > > Pat Villani > Project Coordinator > > > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by > > Make an app they can't live without > Enter the BlackBerry Developer Challenge > http://p.sf.net/sfu/RIM-dev2dev > > -----Inline Attachment Follows----- > > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-devel mailing list > [email protected]<http://mc/[email protected]> > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ > This SF.net email is sponsored by > > Make an app they can't live without > Enter the BlackBerry Developer Challenge > http://p.sf.net/sfu/RIM-dev2dev > _______________________________________________ > Freedos-devel mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel > >
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Make an app they can't live without Enter the BlackBerry Developer Challenge http://p.sf.net/sfu/RIM-dev2dev
_______________________________________________ Freedos-devel mailing list [email protected] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-devel
