Re: AC_PROG_CC_C99

[Paul Eggert]

"Kevin P. Fleming" <address@hidden> writes:

>> Can you test Autoconf with 'gcc -std=c99 -pedantic-errors -Werror'?
>> That might catch some of the problems we're worried about.
>
> I don't currently use C99-isms in my projects, because I didn't have a
> clean way to test for compatibility in my distributions.

But the point is testing Autoconf and "configure"; this is independent
of whether your project uses C99-isms.

The point is that we want "configure" to generate correct answers even
if the compiler is in C99 mode.  If the Autoconf-generated tests don't
conform to C99, they'll produce the wrong answers some times.

> That's why I'm glad to see this macro (and related changes) moving
> ahead, so I can feel free to start using C99 features without worry
> (other than users may be forced to upgrade their systems to support
> C99 if they have old compilers, but at least they'll know at
> configure time).

Personally I wouldn't take that step just yet.  I'd wait 10 years first.