Re: Please comment: Brave GNU World questionaire

[Rajesh Vaidheeswarran]

Eric,

It looks like there is some duplicate effort going on...

I had received one such questionairre from address@hidden which
asked pretty much the same questions and was answered.. If you
are also working on the brave GNU world project, maybe you should
sync up with address@hidden

rv


In a previous message, Erich Waelde writes:

> 
> --sfyO1m2EN8ZOtJL6
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> 
> Hello all,
> 
> I posted this earlier, but have not received anything
> to fill the holes. So, if you could please have a look
> and send suggestions back to me.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Erich
> 
> -- 
> The purpose of computing is insight  ---  not numbers.
>       Richard Hamming 1962
> 
> --sfyO1m2EN8ZOtJL6
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> 
> Hi all,
> 
> since I started this stuff, I took a first stab at the Brave GNU World
> questionaire. Please feel free to add to it (search for ???), correct
> me where I'm wrong or your opinion varies, or tear it to pieces ...
> your choice. I have heavily borrowed from the FAQ and the mail list.
> 
> Cheers,
> Erich
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> QUESTIONS:
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * What is it?
> 
>    (FAQ 3.1) 
>    Cons is a software construction utility--that is, an alternative to
>    "make". It is implemented as a Perl script, which gives it many
>    powerful capabilities not found in other software construction
>    systems.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Who would use it?
> 
>    anyone using make or similar for software construction purposes.
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Why would they use it instead of similar projects?
> 
>    There are big differences between Cons and make in the philosophy
>    of how to determine whether a derived file (i.e. target) is out of
>    date or not. Where make completely relies on timestamps, Cons
>    creates an md5-signature of all files under its control and
   compares those as well.
> 
>    Suppose you have the following chain of files: 
>    util.c : source
>    util.o : object code
>    util   : linked executable.
>    suppose util.o is overwritten accidently with something else and
>    contains garbage.
>    
>    Then make will not derive util.o, because it's timestamp is newer
>    than that of util.c. However, make will attempt to derive the
>    executable util from the garbage file. :-( In make you get arround
>    this only with deleting the garbage file, or a ``make clean'' if
>    you cannot locate the error.
> 
>    Cons is much smarter in this case, it will create checksums of all
>    three files, compare those to stored ones and find that the
>    contents of util.o has changed as well as the date. It will
>    recreate util.o from util.c as expected, calculate the new checksum
>    for the derived file. Then it finds that the new checksum is
>    identical to the stored checksum and it will *not* recreate the
>    executable. Cons has found that the ingredients to util have not
>    really changed, despite recreating util.o.
> 
>    IMHO this is the beautiful side of Cons: Cons tries to do the right
>    thing, no more, no less. A very nice introduction to Cons can be
>    found in ``The Perl Journal'' issue #9, Spring 1998 (see below)
> 
>    In Fact the signature includes the build command, so if flags on
>    the command line change, this is taken into account as well. Cons
>    will recompile all files with the affected change of flags
>    (optimazation, say).
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * (Programming) language used in this project?
> 
>    perl, requires 5.003 or later, the md5 and File::Copy modules.
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Special features/strengths?
> 
>    + see above (Why would they use it instead of similar projects?)
>    + runs on Windows and Unixes (FAQ 3.8)
>    + smart dependency analysis using md5-signatures
>    + extensible in any way using perl. One can extend on
>      . build methods/commands, 
>      . scanner for included files
>      . signature creation and dependency analysis
>    + dymamic addition of targets during build run
>      e.g. adding files generated by a utility, the precise list
>      of which is not known beforehand.
>    + Cons can deal with files in repositories
>    ? works with IDEs ? which ones ?
> 
> ??? additions from list, I'm sure they are out there.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Special problems?
> 
>    Syntax of Cons input files is perl heavy (FAQ 4.3)
> 
>    Cons is somewhat C/C++ centric, it can be taught about other
>    languages using the Cons::Plus module of Johan Holmberg.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Who is working on it?
> 
>    original author:  Bob Sidebotham
>    maintainer:       Rajesh Vaidheeswarran (stable version)
>                      Steven Knight         (development version)
> ??? correct? out of FAQ 3.9, 3.10
>    
>    
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * History of the project?
> 
> ???
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Plans for the close and distant future?
> 
>    There is a substantial TODO list
> ??? I looked into the cons-2.3.0 TODO list. Is this uptodate ?
> ??? Is some of this stuff already built in ?
> ??? 
> ??? parallel Cons ?
> ??? modular Cons ?
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Do you need help? If so: of what kind?
> 
> ??? suggestions ?
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Interesting/fun stories that might juice up the story?
> 
> ??? Would this be a place to add a few lines about production uses of
> ??? Cons ?  suggestions/contributions ?
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Website/FTP addresses?
> 
> 
>     http://www.dsmit.com/cons/  (homepage)
> 
>     Cons is also available on CPAN:
>     http://www.CPAN.org/authors/id/K/KN/KNIGHT/
> 
>     address@hidden        (mail list)
> 
>     The Perl Journal, issue #9, Spring 1998,
>       http://www.sysadminmag.com/tpj/issues/vol3_1/
> 
>     For more information about Cons::Plus look at
>     ftp://mercury.iar.se/jhftp/cons/Cons-Plus-0.05.tar.gz
>     ftp://mercury.iar.se/jhftp/cons/cons-plus.pdf
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * License?!
> 
>    (FAQ 3.12)
>    Cons is distributed under the GNU Public License (GPL), so you can use
>    it, modify it, or even redistribute it without charge (so long as you
>    provide source code when you redistribute it). Prior to Cons version
>    2.0, Fore Systems made Cons available under a license similar to the BSD
>    license.
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Standard documents to read in this context?
> 
>    documentation comes with the script, try 
>    perldoc cons
>    
>    FAQ
> 
>    Article in The Perl Journal, #9 Spring 1998
> 
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Anything you would like to see mentioned?
> 
>    Cons has a sibling ``SCons'', which is written in python. That was
>    written by Steven Knight 
> ??? correct?
>    and is a part of the software carpentry project.
> ??? links?  documentation?
> 
> 
>    There is a parallel build variant of Cons, which is not merged into
>    the official release, for those interested it can be found at
>    http://www.baldmt.com/parallel-cons/
> 
> ??? There is a newer version by Thomas Gleerup, right ? Is it
> ??? available somewhere
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>  * Answer to a question I forgot?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --sfyO1m2EN8ZOtJL6--
> 
> _______________________________________________
> address@hidden
> http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/cons-discuss
> Cons URL: http://www.dsmit.com/cons/
>