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0 pointsConan_Kudo6y ago0 comments

It is definitely true. There's virtually no room for improving the underlying compiler toolchain because there's no allowance or support for an alternate implementation (using GCC, for example).

Go at least has gcc-go, which is a compliant implementation that gets some benefits from being part of GCC (like not completely broken support for dynamic link libraries!).

Having a second compiler implementation forces the language grammar and behavior to be specified in a formal manner that allows anyone to understand how it works.

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the_mitsuhiko6y ago

How is there no allowance? A lot of people in the community would love a rust compiler that can compile down to C for instance.

anoncake6y ago

Maybe the tool chain is hardcoded to use the standard compiler? But that's more likely because of YAGNI, not because the rust community hates freedom.

the_mitsuhiko6y ago

The toolchain is built on top of rustup which very purpose is managing multiple compilers. If one were to build a different rustc it could be swapped in even in the world we have today.

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Tor36y ago

I haven't thought consciously about that, but it turns out that I've been doing that kind of validation unconsciously. I didn't get interested in actally using D, for example, until the GDC variant arrived (Dlang-support in the GCC collection).

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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the_mitsuhiko6y ago

How is there no allowance? A lot of people in the community would love a rust compiler that can compile down to C for instance.

anoncake6y ago

Maybe the tool chain is hardcoded to use the standard compiler? But that's more likely because of YAGNI, not because the rust community hates freedom.

the_mitsuhiko6y ago

The toolchain is built on top of rustup which very purpose is managing multiple compilers. If one were to build a different rustc it could be swapped in even in the world we have today.

1 more reply

Tor36y ago

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse