plan9port

fork of plan9port with libvec, libstr and libsdb
Log | Files | Refs | README | LICENSE

gpcompare.texi (10095B)


      1 @node ANSI
      2 @chapter @sc{gnu} C++ Conformance to @sc{ansi} C++
      3 
      4 These changes in the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler were made to comply more
      5 closely with the @sc{ansi} base document, @cite{The Annotated C++
      6 Reference Manual} (the @sc{arm}).  Further reducing the divergences from
      7 @sc{ansi} C++ is a continued goal of the @sc{gnu} C++ Renovation
      8 Project.
      9 
     10 @b{Section 3.4}, @i{Start and Termination}.  It is now invalid to take
     11 the address of the function @samp{main()}.
     12 
     13 @b{Section 4.8}, @i{Pointers to Members}.  The compiler produces
     14 an error for trying to convert between a pointer to a member and the type
     15 @samp{void *}.
     16 
     17 @b{Section 5.2.5}, @i{Increment and Decrement}.  It is an error to use
     18 the increment and decrement operators on an enumerated type.
     19 
     20 @b{Section 5.3.2}, @i{Sizeof}.  Doing @code{sizeof} on a function is now
     21 an error.
     22 
     23 @b{Section 5.3.4}, @i{Delete}.  The syntax of a @i{cast-expression} is
     24 now more strictly controlled.
     25 
     26 @b{Section 7.1.1}, @i{Storage Class Specifiers}.  Using the
     27 @code{static} and @code{extern} specifiers can now only be applied to
     28 names of objects, functions, and anonymous unions.
     29 
     30 @b{Section 7.1.1}, @i{Storage Class Specifiers}.  The compiler no longer complains
     31 about taking the address of a variable which has been declared to have @code{register}
     32 storage.
     33 
     34 @b{Section 7.1.2}, @i{Function Specifiers}.  The compiler produces an
     35 error when the @code{inline} or @code{virtual} specifiers are
     36 used on anything other than a function.
     37 
     38 @b{Section 8.3}, @i{Function Definitions}.  It is now an error to shadow
     39 a parameter name with a local variable; in the past, the compiler only
     40 gave a warning in such a situation.
     41 
     42 @b{Section 8.4.1}, @i{Aggregates}.  The rules concerning declaration of
     43 an aggregate are now all checked in the @sc{gnu} C++ compiler; they
     44 include having no private or protected members and no base classes.
     45 
     46 @b{Section 8.4.3}, @i{References}.  Declaring an array of references is
     47 now forbidden.  Initializing a reference with an initializer list is
     48 also considered an error.
     49 
     50 @b{Section 9.5}, @i{Unions}.  Global anonymous unions must be declared
     51 @code{static}.
     52 
     53 @b{Section 11.4}, @i{Friends}.  Declaring a member to be a friend of a
     54 type that has not yet been defined is an error.
     55 
     56 @b{Section 12.1}, @i{Constructors}.  The compiler generates a
     57 default copy constructor for a class if no constructor has been declared.
     58 
     59 @ignore
     60 @b{Section 12.4}, @i{Destructors}.  In accordance with the @sc{ansi} C++
     61 draft standard working paper, a pure virtual destructor must now be
     62 defined.
     63 @end ignore
     64 
     65 @b{Section 12.6.2}, @i{Special Member Functions}.  When using a
     66 @i{mem-initializer} list, the compiler will now initialize class members
     67 in declaration order, not in the order in which you specify them.
     68 Also, the compiler enforces the rule that non-static @code{const}
     69 and reference members must be initialized with a @i{mem-initializer}
     70 list when their class does not have a constructor.
     71 
     72 @b{Section 12.8}, @i{Copying Class Objects}.  The compiler generates
     73 default copy constructors correctly, and supplies default assignment
     74 operators compatible with user-defined ones.
     75 
     76 @b{Section 13.4}, @i{Overloaded Operators}.  An overloaded operator may
     77 no longer have default arguments.
     78 
     79 @b{Section 13.4.4}, @i{Function Call}.  An overloaded @samp{operator ()}
     80 must be a non-static member function.
     81 
     82 @b{Section 13.4.5}, @i{Subscripting}.  An overloaded @samp{operator []}
     83 must be a non-static member function.
     84 
     85 @b{Section 13.4.6}, @i{Class Member Access}.  An overloaded @samp{operator ->}
     86 must be a non-static member function.
     87 
     88 @b{Section 13.4.7}, @i{Increment and Decrement}.  The compiler will now
     89 make sure a postfix @samp{@w{operator ++}} or @samp{@w{operator --}} has an
     90 @code{int} as its second argument.
     91 
     92 
     93 @node Encoding
     94 @chapter Name Encoding in @sc{gnu} C++
     95 
     96 @c FIXME!! rewrite name encoding section
     97 @c ...to give complete rules rather than diffs from ARM.
     98 @c To avoid plagiarism, invent some different way of structuring the
     99 @c description of the rules than what ARM uses.
    100 
    101 @cindex mangling
    102 @cindex name encoding
    103 @cindex encoding information in names
    104 In order to support its strong typing rules and the ability to provide
    105 function overloading, the C++ programming language @dfn{encodes}
    106 information about functions and objects, so that conflicts across object
    107 files can be detected during linking. @footnote{This encoding is also
    108 sometimes called, whimsically enough, @dfn{mangling}; the corresponding
    109 decoding is sometimes called @dfn{demangling}.} These rules tend to be
    110 unique to each individual implementation of C++.
    111 
    112 The scheme detailed in the commentary for 7.2.1 of @cite{The Annotated
    113 Reference Manual} offers a description of a possible implementation
    114 which happens to closely resemble the @code{cfront} compiler.  The
    115 design used in @sc{gnu} C++ differs from this model in a number of ways:
    116 
    117 @itemize @bullet
    118 @item
    119 In addition to the basic types @code{void}, @code{char}, @code{short},
    120 @code{int}, @code{long}, @code{float}, @code{double}, and @code{long
    121 double}, @sc{gnu} C++ supports two additional types: @code{wchar_t}, the wide
    122 character type, and @code{long long} (if the host supports it).  The
    123 encodings for these are @samp{w} and @samp{x} respectively.
    124 
    125 @item
    126 According to the @sc{arm}, qualified names (e.g., @samp{foo::bar::baz}) are
    127 encoded with a leading @samp{Q}.  Followed by the number of
    128 qualifications (in this case, three) and the respective names, this
    129 might be encoded as @samp{Q33foo3bar3baz}.  @sc{gnu} C++ adds a leading
    130 underscore to the list, producing @samp{_Q33foo3bar3baz}.
    131  
    132 @item
    133 The operator @samp{*=} is encoded as @samp{__aml}, not @samp{__amu}, to
    134 match the normal @samp{*} operator, which is encoded as @samp{__ml}.
    135 
    136 @c XXX left out ->(), __wr
    137 @item
    138 In addition to the normal operators, @sc{gnu} C++ also offers the minimum and
    139 maximum operators @samp{>?} and @samp{<?}, encoded as @samp{__mx} and
    140 @samp{__mn}, and the conditional operator @samp{?:}, encoded as @samp{__cn}.
    141 
    142 @cindex destructors, encoding of
    143 @cindex constructors, encoding of
    144 @item
    145 Constructors are encoded as simply @samp{__@var{name}}, where @var{name}
    146 is the encoded name (e.g., @code{3foo} for the @code{foo} class
    147 constructor).  Destructors are encoded as two leading underscores
    148 separated by either a period or a dollar sign, depending on the
    149 capabilities of the local host, followed by the encoded name.  For
    150 example, the destructor @samp{foo::~foo} is encoded as @samp{_$_3foo}.
    151 
    152 @item
    153 Virtual tables are encoded with a prefix of @samp{_vt}, rather than
    154 @samp{__vtbl}.  The names of their classes are separated by dollar signs
    155 (or periods), and not encoded as normal: the virtual table for
    156 @code{foo} is @samp{__vt$foo}, and the table for @code{foo::bar} is
    157 named @samp{__vt$foo$bar}.
    158 
    159 @item
    160 Static members are encoded as a leading underscore, followed by the
    161 encoded name of the class in which they appear, a separating dollar sign
    162 or period, and finally the unencoded name of the variable.  For example,
    163 if the class @code{foo} contains a static member @samp{bar}, its
    164 encoding would be @samp{_3foo$bar}.
    165 
    166 @item
    167 @sc{gnu} C++ is not as aggressive as other compilers when it comes to always
    168 generating @samp{Fv} for functions with no arguments.  In particular,
    169 the compiler does not add the sequence to conversion operators.  The
    170 function @samp{foo::bar()} is encoded as @samp{bar__3foo}, not
    171 @samp{bar__3fooFv}.
    172 
    173 @item
    174 The argument list for methods is not prefixed by a leading @samp{F}; it
    175 is considered implied.
    176 
    177 @item
    178 @sc{gnu} C++ approaches the task of saving space in encodings
    179 differently from that noted in the @sc{arm}.  It does use the
    180 @samp{T@var{n}} and @samp{N@var{x}@var{y}} codes to signify copying the
    181 @var{n}th argument's type, and making the next @var{x} arguments be the
    182 type of the @var{y}th argument, respectively.  However, the values for
    183 @var{n} and @var{y} begin at zero with @sc{gnu} C++, whereas the
    184 @sc{arm} describes them as starting at one.  For the function @samp{foo
    185 (bartype, bartype)}, @sc{gnu} C++ uses @samp{foo__7bartypeT0}, while
    186 compilers following the @sc{arm} example generate @samp{foo__7bartypeT1}.
    187 
    188 @c Note it loses on `foo (int, int, int, int, int)'.
    189 @item
    190 @sc{gnu} C++ does not bother using the space-saving methods for types whose
    191 encoding is a single character (like an integer, encoded as @samp{i}).
    192 This is useful in the most common cases (two @code{int}s would result in
    193 using three letters, instead of just @samp{ii}).
    194 @end itemize
    195 
    196 @c @node Cfront
    197 @c @chapter @code{cfront} Compared to @sc{gnu} C++
    198 @c 
    199 @c 
    200 @c FIXME!! Fill in.  Consider points in the following:
    201 @c 
    202 @c @display
    203 @c Date: Thu, 2 Jan 92 21:35:20 EST
    204 @c From: raeburn@@cygnus.com
    205 @c Message-Id: <9201030235.AA10999@@cambridge.cygnus.com>
    206 @c To: mrs@@charlie.secs.csun.edu
    207 @c Cc: g++@@cygnus.com
    208 @c Subject: Re: ARM and GNU C++ incompatabilities
    209 @c 
    210 @c Along with that, we should probably describe how g++ differs from
    211 @c cfront, in ways that the users will notice.  (E.g., cfront supposedly
    212 @c allows "free (new char[10])"; does g++?  How do the template
    213 @c implementations differ?  "New" placement syntax?)
    214 @c @end display
    215 @c
    216 @c XXX For next revision.
    217 @c
    218 @c GNU C++:
    219 @c * supports expanding inline functions in many situations,
    220 @c   including those which have static objects, use `for' statements,
    221 @c   and other situations.  Part of this versatility is due to is
    222 @c   ability to not always generate temporaries for assignments.
    223 @c * deliberately allows divide by 0 and mod 0, since [according
    224 @c   to Wilson] there are actually situations where you'd like to allow
    225 @c   such things.  Note on most systems it will cause some sort of trap
    226 @c   or bus error.  Cfront considers it an error.
    227 @c * does [appear to] support nested classes within templates.
    228 @c * conversion functions among baseclasses are all usable by
    229 @c   a class that's derived from all of those bases.
    230 @c * sizeof works even when the class is defined within its ()'s
    231 @c * conditional expressions work with member fns and pointers to
    232 @c    members.
    233 @c * can handle non-trivial declarations of variables within switch
    234 @c   statements.
    235 @c
    236 @c Cfront: