On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 7:48 PM, Daniel James <dnljms@gmail.com> wrote:
On 25 November 2011 02:48, Dean Michael Berris <mikhailberis@gmail.com> wrote:
But it's not the library emitting these horrible error messages. So why is this tied with the library and not the compiler?
Imagine you know nothing of boost. You're using C++ and you're used to the normal error messages, not great but you understand them. Then one day someone points you to this exiting lambda emulation called Phoenix, you see the demos and they look great. You sit down and try writing a small program. And pages and pages of error messages fill your screen. You don't then think, "my compiler generates bad error messages" as it's normally good enough. You think, "I don't like this" and it happened as a result of using Phoenix. So the link is made, "Phoenix creates horrible error messages".
This is exactly where I was a few years ago and what I though exactly was: wow, GCC creates horrible error messages. I never for one second blamed the library because I *knew* that it's not the library's fault that the error messages are generated by the compiler and not by the library. Why are we accepting illogical reasoning *at all* as a valid reason for "argument"?
Why aren't people saying "I don't want to use this compiler because it's crappy at generating error messages for *any* code"?
People are reluctant to change from what they're used to. The following is from a post about google's use of clang. Remember that many C++ programmers won't even bother to try clang, let alone give it a week.
I work at Google. Before I joined Google, I've been using four different compilers. Having a sane build system and *patience* and willingness to learn are *required* to get anything done in this world. Why are we suddenly surprised or even encouraging being lazy just for the sake of it? Besides, this is anecdotal. Hardly evidence. Anyway, I think this discussion is moot now because I haven't seen one logical refutal of my reasoning nor have I seen one clear answer to the questions I've asked that have sound logic. Have a good day guys, I'm now crawling under a rock. See you all in another 6/7 months. Cheers -- Dean Michael Berris http://goo.gl/CKCJX