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Visual C++ and C++ Standard
Screaming Lunatic writes: "There is an interview over at codeproject about the future of C++ and .NET. Since I don't really care about .NET, the interesting part of the article is about the quest to standarize Visual C++. If you're going to code for Windows, Visual C++ is one of your few choices for a IDE/compiler combo. (Even though, if I'm not mistaken, you can hook gcc up to the IDE.) M$ seems somewhat in favor of conforming to the C++ standard, which is surprising. They talk about pushing forward with template compliance. I'm still waiting for them to get the variable declarations in for-loops right. They also claim to beat several popular compilers in compliance tests."
IMHO, the C++ compiler part of Visual C++ is one of the few things that Microsoft didn't totally screw up. Unfortunately it is all the other junk, like MFC and the crummy code that the IDE's wizards produce, that ruin the development environment.
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Microsoft is definitely full of shit when they consider 'export' to be "theoretical" only. But implementing export is hard; witness the number of compilers that have managed to do it so far. I don't blame MS for putting it off; I blame MS for lying about their reasons for doing so. (If they'd just said, "Implementing this is a freakload of work and we'd rather point our engineers in a more revenue-profitable direction," then I could accept that, too.)
The for-loop scoping bug has a command-line switch to toggle correct behavior. Unfortunately, with it on, large chunks of their own MFC code will no longer compile.
Dinkumware was contracted to provide the library for VC++. They have released their own patches (freely downloadable) to the library headers. With those patches applied, your library is as ISO-compliant as it can be given the (immense) deficiencies of the compiler itself.
For me the big killer is templates -- lots of failures in things like partial specialization.
My recommendation to others who have to work under Wintel: there are plenty of good compilers out there, and they're ALL better than VC++. Comeau, IBM, EDG, KAI, you name it...
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
That wasn't an interview. That was Stanley's pet sycophant putting words into his mouth. ("Yessss, my preciousssss... The Stroustrapses is wanting to take away our language, preciousss...")
I would really have liked to get a real straight answer as to VC++'s role in Microsplat's future. As it is, I'm just as confused as ever. Vague promises that it will be the power language of choice for .NET? But what is it now?
I'll tell you what it is: it's the arcane black magic that the entire .NET system is built on! .NET is all about protecting the programmers from C++. Duh.
I really would like to see a real interview with this guy--when he gets a grip on his task. For now, Stanley appears as confused as the rest of us.
S.
Call me a heathan(sp?), but I actually _like_ the VC++ IDE
hooking gcc up to it seems like a good idea, cuz the compiler it self sucks ass