From: Jeff Garland (jeff_at_[hidden])
Date: 2006-01-30 22:32:38
On Mon, 30 Jan 2006 18:48:10 -0800, Thomas Witt wrote
> Hi,
>
> several recent posts touched the issue of deprecating compilers in
> the next release.
>
> Given the fact that we don't even seem to know what deprecating
> means I would like to propose the following:
>
> Compiler support should be phased out instead of dropped. I see
> three different stages here.
>
> Fully Supported
> ---------------
>
> Libraries should make an effort to support these compilers.
> Regressions in support version to version should be avoided. (Weasel
> wording intended). Full regression testing.
>
> Marked Deprecated
> -----------------
>
> No effort is required to support these compilers in new
> functionality. Version to version regressions are accepted after the
> first version that marked these compilers as deprecated. Full
> regression testing (if resources are available). One key idea here
> is to give the user a good idea on the level of available
> functionality until a toolset reaches the "Unsupported" stage.
>
> Unsupported
> -----------
>
> No regression testing is done. (Library authors might still support
> these toolsets for their libraries on a case by case basis.)
>
> AFAICS there seems to be strong support for moving gcc-2.95 and vc6
> to "Marked Deprecated" and somebody needs to fight Alisdair over
> Borland
> (volunteers? any?).
>
> Comments
>
> Thomas
I like your breakdown although we might need another category like
'experimental' to describe newer compilers that are partially supported or
might be supported in the future -- although maybe it's the same as unsupported.
Anyway, here's how I'd categorize the current set of compilers on the
regression page:
Supported;
vc7.1
vc8.x
intel9_x
cw9_4
gcc3.x
gcc4.x
tru64cxx71-xx
Deprecated:
intel8_x
tru64cxx65-xx
Unsupported:
borland 5_6_x
cw8_x
dmc
gcc2.95.x
sunpro
vc6
vc7
I know -- that's a pretty aggressive cut in supported compilers, but I think
it's time to let boost developers focus on new libraries instead of porting.
Jeff