Posted: 03/02/07 01:05:53
demise wrote:
Luckily the problems with Derelict are fixed now.
Glad to hear that!
demise wrote:
It would be nice if the next release could be installed via dsss straight out of the box (at least on Linux) and have prebuilt documentation for offline browsing.
dsss is just one way that tango can be shipped. It has it's own way of creating and using libs for installation. There is more than one way to use and ship Tango, currently. And for several reasons, we can't adopt just the dsss way as the preferred method for the next version.
For example, right now Tango is shipped as a core library (called libphobos.a or phobos.lib, depending on platform). This core library includes the gc, compiler specifics, and language-oriented dependencies. Every Tango project links with it as a minimum requirement. All other Tango modules are held in separate directories and are linked in "as needed" (io, text, net, etc). But neither dmd nor gdc will automatically compile these dependencies, nor will they direct the linker to combine them into the final executable. You need rebuild or build to do that. Build and rebuild both search the tango tree for all required modules and compile/link them into the final binary automatically, such that the final binary is built to the optimal size (ie, as few redundant objects as possible).
Tango could be made into one single library file, but this is not currently optimal on win32/dmd (as I understand it). gdc appears to have no problem with this, however. Using the gdc compiler, you may even make one large shared library out of the Tango package. The limitation with win32/dmd, however, keeps the standard installation method away from libraries for now.
DSSS, on the other hand, has it's own way of installing Tango, and it's own way of managing the Tango libraries and objects. It requires that you still build the core tango library separately and install it. Then it builds and installs multiple libraries constructed from each of the major Tango sections (io, net, text, etc). It certainly has it's own way of simplifying the process, but, as of yet, Tango has not decided if the dsss way of doing things is the optimal, or even simplest solution. So for now dsss remains an alternative install for Tango users.
A simple installation for a future Tango release may involve the shipping of a package including: (1) gdc or dmd compiler (2) complete Tango source tree and (3) pre-built tango library (all prepped to work "out of the box"). This would solve many problems that current users are having because it guarantees that the installed setup works in place. Removing the need for install scripts circumvents a whole class of issues. Also the advantage of shipping Tango this way is that multiple downloads may be listed for separate platforms and compilers, so no longer do all platform makefiles/scripts have to be included in a single platform's package.
As for including the whole of Tango as a library, I think that is still an important goal in the future, if it can be achieved reliably and practically. If it ends up continuing to be the source of the problem of bloated binaries, the current solution using rebuild and build will remain for the forseeable future. But, I'm really, really hoping not. :)
-JJR
