DIP11: Automatic downloading of libraries

[Robert Clipsham]

On 14/06/2011 14:53, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> http://www.wikiservice.at/d/wiki.cgi?LanguageDevel/DIPs/DIP11
>
> Destroy.
>
>
> Andrei

More thoughts:

* The compiler should be a compiler
* Adding this makes the compiler a downloader and a compiler
* If the compiler is a downloader, it should also be a builder and a
   package manager
* Compiler now contains more C++ code that isn't to do with compiling.

The DIP mentions speed as a reason to integrate it into the compiler 
rather than have it separate. How about making dmd a bit more modular if 
you want the speed of having it in the compiler? Make a dmd library, the 
compiler can just be a main wrapper around it. This way:

* The downloader/builder/package manager can be separate
* The tool can be written in D, and still have the speed you want
* It paves the way for other tools that could use dmd as a library

The way I see this proposal is as a response to cpan/gem/pecl etc, a 
much needed package manager for D. I don't believe integrating it into 
the compiler is the right way to go, nor do I believe that a pragma is 
the right way to do it - I even refuse to use pragma(lib) as it doesn't 
work with incremental compilation - this wouldn't either.

-- 
Robert
http://octarineparrot.com/