Re: [Qemu-devel] [patch 1/2] machine struct - use C99 initializers

[Andreas Färber]

Jes,

Am 06.10.2008 um 17:03 schrieb Jes Sorensen:

> Johannes Schindelin wrote:
> > > This patch simply converts all the machine structs to use C99  
> > > style initializers. There is no actual code change in this.
> > Is it really such a good idea to do this?  I mean, the only real  
> > change you make here is to break compilation on compilers that do  
> > not grok C99 (or do it badly).
> > Sure, it does not concern _you_.  You _obviously_ have a C99  
> > compliant compiler.
>
> Ehm, what compiler does _not_ support C99 these days?

> > P.S.: before somebody says that GCC is C99 compliant: search the  
> > mailing list for the Beos GCC2 issue which was mentioned not long  
> > ago.
>
> GCC is sufficiently C99 compliant to handle this style of  
> initializers.
> Maybe it's not C99 compliant enough for other stuff, but on this front
> it does just fine.

You're missing the point: GCC today is not necessarily GCC 4.3+ or  
whatever has just been released these days and included in your  
favorite Linux distro. Just like Sun continues to ship GCC 3.4.3 on  
their latest OpenSolaris builds, the BeOS world and therefore its  
successor(s) are stuck with GCC 2.95.3 due to C++ ABI breakage in  
between major GCC versions. GCC 2 was originally released in '98 iirc  
and hence not C99 compliant. I'd expect your IRIX to face a similar  
issue, at EOL.

Anyway, saying that GCC supports C99 is about as correct as saying  
that Windows supports Bluetooth (which it didn't for many years before  
Windows XP SP1 or sth.) - hell, many companies even still run  
mainframe software from the Eighties!

So while this argument for using C99 is flawed, there may be valid  
reasons for QEMU to use more C99 constructs. But their pure  
availability in the latest GCCs is not very convincing.

Andreas