[...]
> > gcc is nightmare compared to kernel, because code is not reasonably
> > modular and all of it is used all the time. Gcc is subtle, inside. [...]
> I _know_ that hacking egcs is incredibly complex and challenging, i
> respect the egcs project and gcc hackers _alot_. I was protesting against
> comparing gcc and the kernel directly by comparing code complexity. Linux
> has very subtle complexities as well, not present in gcc. One of the
> reasons why we try to keep Linux as simple as physically possible is the
> fact that unnecessery complexities will come back and haunt us later by
> slowing down development, reducing performance and increasing the number
> of bugs - but it must be understood that this simplicity is a conscious
> choice and should not be mistaken for being inferior. The same amount of
> 'unnecesserily complex new code' hits Linux considerably harder than GCC.
It seems to me that gcc wasn't ever subjected to such a draconian clean
code directive as the kernel... and AFAIKS egcs has done a _lot_ of
cleanup. More is to come, to be sure.
Both are very complex pieces of code, but the root of their complexities is
very different. But in the end both stem from solving very complex
problems, just different ones.
-- Horst von Brand vonbrand@sleipnir.valparaiso.cl Casilla 9G, Viņa del Mar, Chile +56 32 672616
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