D is our last hope

[Siarhei Siamashka]

On Wednesday, 20 December 2023 at 15:12:37 UTC, Siarhei Siamashka 
wrote:
> On Wednesday, 20 December 2023 at 14:01:00 UTC, Richard (Rikki) 
> Andrew Cattermole wrote:
>> From what Iain has said that I remember, you can only use the 
>> last 3 major versions in binary form to compile the next 
>> version. They are pretty strict.
>
> Yes, if somebody is contributing a patch for GCC 14, then they 
> can't immediately rely on a newly added fancy GCC 13 feature, 
> but have to ensure that the code still can be successfully 
> compiled by GCC 11, GCC 12 and GCC 13. Even older versions may 
> or may not work, but this is not guaranteed.
>
> GDC 15 won't have an obligation to be compilable by GDC 11. But 
> this doesn't mean that GDC 15 (or DMD) suddenly needs to 
> intentionally break compatibility with GDC 11.

Actually I double checked 
https://gcc.gnu.org/install/prerequisites.html and can't find 
anything to support such claim. I just vaguely remember that I 
had seen something like this somewhere, but maybe it was not an 
authoritative source. Or my memory is failing me.

But there are just 3 major releases of GCC maintained 
simultaneously. Once GCC/GDC 14 is out, GCC/GDC 11 will become 
unsupported and no bugs in it will be fixed from that moment on. 
The upcoming EOL is probably the main concern for GDC 11 and it's 
valid.