Library standardization

[Hans W. Uhlig]

Walter Bright wrote:
> Jarrett Billingsley wrote:
>> As far as I know, a compiled Java .class file can work in place of the 
>> source file from which it was generated.  The .class file contains all 
>> the declarations in a table, so the compiler doesn't have to parse any 
>> code.
> 
> That's right, the compiler just uses the .class file.
> 
>> The eqivalent isn't really possible with any current implementation of 
>> D, since all D compilers now use typical object file formats instead 
>> of a custom format.  I mean, I suppose it's _possible_ to embed some 
>> information into the object file and have the compiler read it out, 
>> but I have no idea what that would entail or if all object file 
>> formats would support that, etc.. 
> 
> Yes, it is certainly possible to embed the information in the .obj file. 
> But it's kind of "why bother". Furthermore, in the future, the 1:1 
> correspondence between .obj files and source files may go away.

That would probably be a good thing but why can a obj file not have its 
"implementation header" inside the object. It would bloat the object a 
little but having it in there would allow for better 
optimization(through compartmentalizing, limited loading and such) and 
the same non header requirement as java.