[Info-vax] C99 stuff (Re: The Road to V9.0)

[johnwallace4 at yahoo.co.uk]

On Tuesday, 11 June 2019 01:40:10 UTC+1, Dave Froble  wrote:
> On 6/10/2019 1:54 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
> > On 2019-06-10, John Reagan <xyzzy1959 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> A compiler port to OpenVMS doesn't need a DCL command line or a
> >> "traditional" listing file.  Perl and Python for example.  Are they not
> >> "friendly" enough?  Would somebody turn down a port of Rust if it didn't
> >> have a command line or listing file?
> >>
> >
> > There may be some dogma going on here along the lines of "that's the
> > way it has always been done so that's how it should be done on x86-64 VMS".
> >
> > Such dogma doesn't address the question of whether the old way is still
> > the best way.
> >
> > 1) Compiler listings:
> >
> > How many of you actually _use_ the listings and how do you use them ?
> 
> I'll go to the listings if there is some issue, and I cannot solve it. 
> It's rare, but, when you need the listings, you might REALLY need the 
> listings.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> David Froble                       Tel: 724-529-0450
> Dave Froble Enterprises, Inc.      E-Mail: davef at tsoft-inc.com
> DFE Ultralights, Inc.
> 170 Grimplin Road
> Vanderbilt, PA  15486

I entirely agree with Dave (and others). It actually makes me 
wonder whether those who have only ever used (for example) 
gcc-style compilers and associated 'listings' actually know 
what a DEC-style listing looks like in its full glory, and what 
it can tell people. 

I've used both, and I know which one I'd like to have available 
both for routine development (including code review and test) 
and for troubleshooting in the field.

Anyone got any good publishable examples? 

I've also had the experience of developing and supporting tools
to work with STABS and DWARF and related object+debug formats. 
Not much like fun, especially having to reverse engineer the 
name mangling in GNAT to work with software verification tools 
that had previously been STABS-based. John Reagan and others 
have my deepest sympathies in this respect (unless LLVM/CLANG 
have improved these matters by a huge margin in the last decade 
or two).