On 10 Dec 2004, Roopesh Kohad moaned: > Hi, > I understand that libstdc++ is standard C++ library implementing > functions in 32 standard headers. But then what are libsupc++ and > libsupc++convenience for? libsupc++ implements the parts of the C++ runtime specified by the non-library parts of the C++ Standard: the runtime implementations of things like the default new and delete operators, exception handling, the demangler, and the typeinfo infrastructure, as well as things like the __cxa_guard_*() and EH personality functions required by the G++ ABI. Its purpose is to let you build tiny statically linked C++ programs without any of the overheads required by the full C++ standard library; e.g., you don't pay for construction of the default iostreams if you just link with -lsupc++. It's especially useful for embedded work, but can be useful anywhere where space is tight. libsupc++convenience is what libtool calls a `convenience library'; that is, it's a temporary static library whose ultimate purpose is to be linked into some other library: namely, libstdc++ itself. It is not installed or distributed in tarballs. It's a bit of a kludge: libtool's support for multiple-directory projects is, er, perhaps not as elegant as it could be. (There's a comment about this in src/libstdc++-v3/libsupc++/Makefile.am, just above the noinst_LTLIBRARIES line.) -- `The sword we forged has turned upon us Only now, at the end of all things do we see The lamp-bearer dies; only the lamp burns on.'
