D compiler as part of GCC

[Jerry Quinn]

[also posted to D.gnu]

Hi, folks,

I'm interested in creating a D front end for GCC that would be part of the GCC codebase.  My feeling is that a GDC that is part of GCC distributions will likely have more life than one that must be updated whenever a new GCC release comes out.  As with linux kernel in-tree drivers being kept up to date, an integrated GDC would tend to move forward as well.

To do this though, copyright on the code must be assigned to the FSF.  This means that even though the DMD front end sources are licensed under the GPL, they cannot be directly used to write this front end as the copyright is owned by DigitalMars.  Everyone who contributes code must not look at the DMD compiler source code to avoid accidentally contributing code illegally.  Therefore, this will be a completely new implementation of D.

The obvious disadvantage of doing this is that it will be a slow process to get to a working D compiler.  However, one advantage to the D world is firming up and validating the language specification so that the language is not defined by what the DMD compiler does.

My personal desire is to implement (and track) the 2.0 language since I would like to see that feature set available through GCC.  Second, by the time a working front end becomes part of GCC, the 2.0 language will likely be complete.

One question I have (of many) is whether a different name should be used.  If this is called GDC there will be some confusion with the current GDC.  What thoughts do you all have?

In general is there interest in this project, especially contributing to it?

Thanks,
Jerry