32 bit x86 Linux operating system

[Brad Roberts]

On Thu, 6 Mar 2008, Jason House wrote:

> Barry Denton wrote:
> 
> > D unix compiler say for 32 bit x86 Linux operating system. Mine is 64 bit
> > dual core single chanel    will it work for me
> 
> DMD will generate 32-bit code
> GDC has versions to generate 32-bit and 64-bit code
> 
> If you're going to use DMD, your OS needs to be able to run 32-bit code. 
> If, like me, you run 64-bit ubuntu, you'll need a 32-bit chroot.  

It doesn't require a chroot environment, just the appropriate 32 bit 
libraries, which essentially every distribution makes available.  I've run 
dmd on linux x86/64 with various linux distributions.  On fc6 I had to 
install two rpm's, compat-libstdc++-33 and glibc-devel.i386.  The box I 
was running fc6 on was an ec2 instance and the image it started with was a 
very very slim install (no compiler at all), so the latter is probably 
already installed on most boxes.  On debian I had to install libstdc++6, 
also often already installed.

The only thing you won't be able to do with dmd is create 64 bit 
applications.  As long as you're ok with creating 32 bit applications, 
you're fine.  MOST apps don't need the full 64 bit address space and the 
cost of the extra memory consumed by using pointers and longs that consume 
twice the memory.  Many can take advantage of the extra registers that 
become available to 64 bit apps.  So, it's all a balancing act.

Later,
Brad