Have Win DMD use gmake instead of a separate DMMake makefile?

[Walter Bright]

On 8/12/2013 5:19 PM, H. S. Teoh wrote:
>> 5. Do we really want D to be restricted to only platforms that have
>> the latest Python up on them?
>
> I think that's a bit of hyperbole. It's the same as saying "do we want D
> to be restricted to only platforms that have g++/make installed?"

No, I don't think it's hyperbole. I would bet that a C++ compiler (which 
invariably come with a make) exists on essentially every platform 32 bits or 
larger. Python? Doesn't seem likely.


> If we have a D build tool that we ship with the dmd sources, then we
> will have (1) a superior build system to make, (2) no external
> dependence on gmake / python / whatever else. Since we're aiming for dmd
> to be itself written in D, we might as well just self-host the build
> system too. And this tool can be used to build other D programs in
> general, not just dmd / druntime / phobos.

I think you're underestimating the amount of effort needed to build a "proper" 
build tool, even to get it up to the level of make. For example, gmake has the 
-j switch, enabling building using all the cores on your CPU. This is a big 
deal, but I don't think it's so easy to create a bug-free implementation of it.

(DM make does not have -j.)