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RE: Why does C++ support in GDB suck so badly ?
- To: "Andrew Cagney" <ac131313 at cygnus dot com>
- Subject: RE: Why does C++ support in GDB suck so badly ?
- From: "Gianni Mariani" <gianni at mariani dot ws>
- Date: Wed, 5 Sep 2001 23:55:04 -0700
- Cc: <gdb at sourceware dot cygnus dot com>
Andrew, thanks to the pointer to the thread.
So it seems there are 2 main underlying problems:
1. Dwarf 2 reader support is less than optimal
2. Proper name space support is lacking
I would have to agree that just being able to correctly
print a data structure goes a long way.
Is anyone actively managing the C++ bugs ?
What kind of help does the GDB team need ?
I'm willing to help.
G
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Cagney [mailto:ac131313@cygnus.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2001 11:39 PM
To: Gianni Mariani
Cc: gdb@sourceware.cygnus.com
Subject: Re: Why does C++ support in GDB suck so badly ?
> It is really bad that you can't examine a simple data structure - because
> of "virtual baseclass botch" or "Value can't be converted to integer
" messages.
>
> Are there alternatives ?
>
> I'm willing to help - but my reseach tells me that's going to be useless:
> http://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc/2001-03/msg00475.html
Always take any thing you read with a pinch of salt. That includes this
e-mail.
> Is gdb so bad now that it needs to be thrown out and started again -
in C++ ?
Some how, i suspect that would be a bad move. When it comes down to it,
GDB's basic architecture must be ok - it would have to be to last 15 years!
The real problem is that there are a number of C++ bugs, some some of
which are complex - check this mailing list for MichaelC's summary.
I don't think the complexity is comming from gdb's c++ support code,
rather it is comming from changes needed to core core-gdb. It is like
hurding wild cattle through a cattle dip. You can't get all the
required changes through in a single hit, however with a little
organization, some help, and some hard work, you'll soon get things
moving in the right direction.
> Lack of response to my query on August 21st also shows a real lack of
interest
> from the current gdb team so I'm worried.
>
> Will someone on the gdb team please let us know what your plans are
to address
> the lack of C++ support - even if you have none .
Keep in mind that people, having learnt from past mistakes, tend to only
say something when they have both come up with a prototype of an idea
and are willing/able to follow it through to a final implementation.
See the thread:
http://sources.redhat.com/ml/gdb/2001-06/msg00219.html
I think some people have worn themselves out trying to wressle a very
large bull called ``name space''. The last comment I saw, suggested
that rewriting the dwarf2 reader is probably overkill.
If I remember right, this, and other smaller problems are always
available for the taking.
Got your GPL assignment in order?
Andrew