Am 12.07.2017 um 21:12 schrieb Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason:
I think in the context of this desire Johannes Sixt's "Actually, I'm
serious [about let's compile with c++]"[1] should be given some more
consideration.
Thank you for your support.
I've just compiled Git with it and it passes all tests. I think the
endeavor is worthwhile in itself as C++ source-level compatibility for
git.git is clearly easy to achieve, and would effectively give us access
to more compilers (albeit in different modes, but they may discover
novel bugs that also apply to the C mode code).
Please keep in mind that my patches only show that it can be done.
Nevertheless, the result is far, far away from valid C++ code. It can be
compiled by GCC (thanks to its -fpermissive flag) and happens to produce
something that works. But that does not mean that other compilers would
grok it.
Source-level compatibility is only necessary as a stop gap in the
transition to C++. If the transition is not going to happen, I doubt
that there is any value. It is simply too much code churn for too little
gain. The real gains are in the features of C++(11,14).
But why do it? Aside from the "more compilers" argument, we may find
that it's going to be much easier to use some C99 features we want by
having C++ source-level compatibility, and on compilers like that may
not support those features in C use the C++ mode that may support those.
I would be happy to learn about a C99 feature where C++ mode of some
compiler would help.
The only C99 feature mentioned so far was designated initializers.
Unfortunately, that actually widens the gap between C and C++, not
lessens it. (C++ does not have designated initializers, and they are not
on the agenda.)
If not C++ support would be interesting for other reasons. Johannes
Sixt: It would be very nice to get those patches on-list.
I don't think it's worth to swamp the list with the patches at this
time. Interested parties can find them here:
https://github.com/j6t/git.git c-plus-plus
I may continue the work, slowly and as long as I find it funny. It's
just mental exercise, unless the Git community copies the GCC Steering
Committee's mindeset with regard to C++ in the code base
(https://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2010-05/msg00705.html).
-- Hannes
