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They do use it for Intellisense though, because C++ code is so difficult to process that Microsoft couldn't manage to re-use their own (presumably it'd be too much work to re-architect).

Which means that there are essentially only two truly robust, re-usable C++ front-ends in the world: Clang and EDG. This is bad for everyone, because it hurts portability.

(So I totally emphasize with the OP's comments. I wish there were some way to version the language, so that we wouldn't have to be saddled with backwards compatibiliy cruft for eternity.)

the full Linux execution stack (compiler/runtime/kernel drivers) in open source form, except for one commercial third party piece (the C++ parser front end)

Is this missing piece a proprietary parser of C++ for LLVM or a proprietary shader parser implemented in C++?

Kudos to AMD. It is getting easier for me to imagine buying ATI based GPUs for my own use after ~10 years of NVidia cards. A full execution stack may lead to at least more stable drivers (via users debugging), if not more efficient. My #1 objection to ATI has been instability of Linux drivers.

They probably use a customized version of the EDG C/C++ Front-end for parsing OpenCL.

Actually, all of the most popular C++ compilers are getting pretty close to standards compliance (even g++ ;-). This is largely thanks to the work of The Edison Design Group, who license compiler front ends, and are very focused on standards compliance.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money, and you don't want to stop using the compiler that you have, I highly recommend The Comeau Compiler. It is a compiler front end derived from the EDG codebase, and only costs you $50. The big downside is that your compile times will be much longer than usual, but at least you can use the export keyword to help with that a bit.

I don't even think any C++ compiler has achieved ISO C++ compliance yet

The EDG C++ front end is fully ISO/IEC 14882:1998 compliant, including export support. Look at their resellers for a list of compilers based on it.

I don't even think any C++ compiler has achieved ISO C++ compliance yet

The EDG C++ front end is fully ISO/IEC 14882:1998 compliant, including export support. Look at their resellers for a list of compilers based on it.

I don't even think any C++ compiler has achieved ISO C++ compliance yet

The EDG C++ front end is fully ISO/IEC 14882:1998 compliant, including export support. Look at their resellers for a list of compilers based on it.

<sigh>Once again my story gets rejected when it contains more info than the one that gets posted. :-(

To set the record straight, EDG do indeed produce C++ front end compiler tools, and it is these that have just been released.

However, major C++ vendors including Comeau Computing use that in their compilers. Comeau already have a beta of their 4.3.0 compiler available at their on-line compiler. The full version is due later this month.

Dinkumware have also announced a version of their standard library implementation to work with Comeau, which should be available shortly after the Comeau compiler is released. Apparently, it makes extensive use of export, but for little change in performance at compile-time.

That makes their new library implementation a bit academic as far as Joe Developer goes. However, it's excellent news in general, because it shows that using export isn't going to entail a performance hit. We can finally write template code with interface and implementation properly separated out.

This page also says:

There is also a GNU C compatibility mode, which provides the extensions supported by GCC (version 3.0.1), along with various undocumented features and bugs. The compatibility is good enough that the front end can compile the Linux kernel and utilities. At present, there is no g++ mode, i.e., no way to enable GNU extensions and C++ mode at the same time.

--xPhase

In particular, I know that KAI C++ and Compaq's C++ compiler are both based on EGD.

Yes, KAI and Compaq use the Edison front end. So do Comeau, SGI, Intel, and a number of other compilers. See EDG's site for a more complete list.

Some of EDG's customers will release a compiler based on the new front end sooner than others, partly for business reasons (every company has different tradeoffs) and partly for technical reasons (for some companies, a new front end means an awful lot of integration work).

I expect Comeau to be the first company to sell a compiler based on the new EDG front end: Greg Comeau has been very excited at being able to support export. I'll be surprised if it takes longer than a few weeks for the new Comeau compiler to come out.

"An interim release of VectorC with preliminary C++ support is due in Q4 2001. VectorC 2.0 with full C++ compliancy is scheduled for release in Q1 2002."

Even if Codeplay was to use the Edison Design Group C++ front end -- highly likely, as it's famous throughout the industry as an extraordinarily compliant, high quality front end, and seemingly a perfect match to the existing VectorC back end -- I'm highly skeptical this schedule could be met.

On the other hand, a lot of performance-minded projects stick with plain C. (I'm not commenting on whether or not that's the right decision; I'm observing what decisions are made in the industry.)