Win Headers

[Regan Heath]

On Thu, 12 Dec 2013 08:18:51 -0000, Mike Parker <aldacron at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 12/12/2013 4:44 PM, frustrated2 wrote:
>> thanks for your reply. its a shame that the language does not supply
>> ready to use headers. i can live with missing libraries, but not with
>> incomplete or non working bare minimal prerequisites to use it with an  
>> os.
>> that is a sad and sorry state!
>
> I don't see why. Win32 bindings aren't shipped with Java or Python and  
> several other languages. Even C and C++, except for maybe one of the  
> MinGW distros. Even with VC, you still have to download the Windows SDK  
> separately.

I don't believe this last statement is true.  I am fairly certain that  
upon installing VC you have everything you need to call/use Win32  
functions.  The only reason to download/install a separate SDK is if your  
VC version is older and you want a newer SDK/API.

> Should DMD ship with X-Windows bindings, too? What about Cocoa on OS X?

How big are they?  If we're just talking about D "header" files then I am  
all for it, the more the merrier.  It's not like internet bandwidth or  
hard disk space is currently an issue and it will only become less of an  
issue the more time rolls on.  If people are really anxious about this,  
why not have a separate download for windows and the various flavours of  
UNIX.. wait a minute, we already do. :)

> I would be content if DMD did not ship Win32 bindings at all, except for  
> the minimal needed to implement cross-platform stuff in Phobos.

This is more or less the current situation right?  Last time I tried to do  
any Win32 stuff in D there were enormous gaps.. this is one reason I don't  
have any current projects using D.

> As it stands, the static libs for the Win32 API that ship with DMD are  
> old and don't include a good number of modern functions anyway. IMO,  
> complete OS API bindings *should* be separate. I wouldn't expect them  
> with the compiler.

Sure, if we're talking about DLL/LIB files then I agree, we don't want to  
be shipping these with the compiler.  They should be obtained from  
official channels i.e. downloading the windows SDK.

However..

Does DMD support the M$ dll/lib format or is that still an issue?  I know  
there is a conversion tool, but IIRC you have to pay for that..  this  
hassle was another reason I stopped using D for my personal projects.

R

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