[haiku-development] Re: Ada Compiler?
- From: Patrick Kelly <kameo76890@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: haiku-development@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:41:07 +0000
On Tuesday 08 September 2009 12:22:20 am Jack Small wrote:
> On Sep 6, 2009, at 10:14 PM, Ryan Leavengood wrote:
> > At this point we don't have the resources to support languages that
> > are not C or C++.
>
> At this point it is understandable.
>
> I don't know that fully dynamic binding to C++ is possible, at least
> I've never seen it. This means that the only way to really write a
> "native" Haiku GUI app is to use C++. Which is still understandable
> at this point. Unfortunately that means that other languages cannot
> use the GUI so they will have to write their own wrapper classes and C
> API. Yes it is a lot of work, but it that's what it takes to get on
> Haiku then we are willing to do it. But honestly my C++ skills, and
> my familiarity with the GUI API, pales in comparison to the people who
> have written it. Their insights and hindsight would include things
> that simply cannot be gleamed from the manuals, even as beautiful as
> they are.
It's possible to be "native" without being written purely in C++. The only
'issue' would be your resulting code would not be purely (language of choice).
GUI's work fine when using GtkAda, QtAda, and the Win32 bindings. Now naturally
BeOS didn't use those, but you get the point.
>
> I'm not asking to rewrite the API in C, but just to make it possible
> to use the API from C. A roadmap, guidelines, or any other hints on
> doing that will greatly enhance the process. Without that, we'll end
> up with multiple, competing, add-on libraries which may have no
> resemblance to the authors original intentions and ultimately loose
> the advantages of the native GUI. Or you'll have a single, blessed
> language that will never really interact with others.
>
> Yes, I am a biased 3rd party language developer but honestly all we
> want to do is use our language to write awesome Haiku apps. The only
> real blocker issue for us is the GUI API.
>
> Haiku offers us something unique: autonomy. Our little language has
> been stomped out of existence half a dozen times and yet we keep,
> well, hoping to move the rubber tree plant. We could finally offer
> our users a stable foundation that runs on modern off-the-shelf
> hardware. We could finally get out of all the "black boxes" and
> actually spend time enhancing the language not chasing shadows. I
> cannot speak for the official company but I can tell you that at a
> personal level we will move mountains if it means the survival of the
> language. That's how we got here.
>
> Like all languages we can bring something unique to Haiku. The
> absolute last thing I want to do is start any conflict about who has
> the biggest syntax. In fact all I really want is to avoid any
> disparity while maximizing choices.
>
> This isn't something that needs to be decided right now. However
> after R1 a decision on this needs to be made one way or another. If
> Haiku will only ever support C++ we need to know that now.
>
> More later,
> Jack
>
Other related posts:
