DMD + msvc

[Walter Bright]

On 6/18/2012 11:10 AM, Adam Wilson wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:50:44 -0700, Walter Bright <newshound2 at digitalmars.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 6/17/2012 3:34 AM, Jacob Carlborg wrote:
>>> 1. DMD can only output OMF binaries
>>> 2. DMD cannot output 64bit code for Windows
>>> 3. DMD is not compatible with the MSVC linker or runtime
>>
>>
>> I intend to fix all of those, at least for 64 bit Windows, in the near term.
>>
>
> Does this somewhat vague statement meant that we are getting COFF support in the
> near term?

Yes, because that is necessary for MSVC linker compatibility.

> Because if so, I have some serious plans for source embedding in
> custom sections. The only thing blocking it is the fact that OMF doesn't support
> custom sections. Once the source is embedded in libraries, we can finally
> jettison DI files once and for all! Also would it be possible at this point to
> clean up the backend such that we have a clean interface for interacting with
> object files during their construction, given that with COFF, all object format
> wills be roughly feature equal?

Probably not, though it will be better.

> Object generation is an unholy disaster of
> IFDEF's and my brain has melted every time I try to venture into it; but if we
> have a clean interface for interacting with them it would make it significantly
> easier to add things like custom sections, which in turn will open up a plethora
> of new options, including source embedding.

Yeah, me too. But fixing that is not so easy.