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Frequently Asked Questions
Table of contents
Q01: [1]Why the name SmallEiffel The GNU Eiffel Compiler?
Q02: [2]What's the matter with version numbering?
Q03: [3]Is it possible to have the complete Eiffel source code of
SmallEiffel?
Q04: [4]Is it possible to use SmallEiffel for large/commercial
applications?
Q05: [5]Is it possible to do incremental compilation with
SmallEiffel?
Q06: [6]Is there a SmallEiffel mailing list?
Q07: [7]What about the Guru section?
Q08: [8]Is it difficult to switch from ISE to SmallEiffel?
Q09: [9]Are there mirror FTP sites for SmallEiffel?
Q10: [10]Is it possible to use the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage
collector with SmallEiffel?
Q11: [11]Why don't you post more messages in newsgroups and/or mailing
lists?
Q12: [12]It is possible to create applets with compile_t_jvm?
Q13: [13]Where do I send bug reports?
Q14: [14]Is there a mechanism to precompile libraries?
Q15: [15]How is SmallEiffel compiled?
Q16: [16]How do I keep informed about SmallEiffel?
Q17:
[17]What documentation is provided with SmallEiffel?
Where can I find Eiffel documentation?
Questions and answers
Q01: Why the name SmallEiffel The GNU Eiffel Compiler?
A01: SmallEiffel comes from the mixing of the names Smalltalk and
Eiffel. Our aim is to offer an Eiffel development environment as easy
to use as Smalltalk and as safe as Eiffel. Since version -0.82,
SmallEiffel has been promoted by the Free Software Foundation the
official GNU Eiffel Compiler.
Q02: What's the matter with version numbering?
A02: Version numbering uses negative numbers. The first distributed
version was numbered -0.99, the second one -0.98, the third -0.97, and
so on. Version number -0.0 should correspond to the very best Eiffel
compiler on this planet :-)
Q03: Is it possible to have the complete Eiffel source code of
SmallEiffel?
A03: Since it is the GNU Eiffel Compiler, the complete source code of
SmallEiffel is of course in the distribution. The source code for
additional libraries is also provided.
Q04: Is it possible to use SmallEiffel for large/commercial
applications?
A04: It is very possible to use SmallEiffel for a large application.
An Eiffel compiler is a really big project and SmallEiffel itself is
fully written in Eiffel. SmallEiffel is completely free and any
private compagny can use SmallEiffel freely, and distribute freely the
products made with it. They do not have to pay royalties. However,
SmallEiffel doesn't come with any warranty (please read the COPYING
file in the distribution). For extended support as well as consulting,
see [18]here.
Q05: Is it possible to do incremental compilation with SmallEiffel?
A05: Before release -0.91 the answer was no. The answer is now YES.
Because of the SmallEiffel type inference mechanism, SmallEiffel
always produces all needed C files from scratch. As old C files are
automatically saved, only modified C files are recompiled. See
[19]man/compile for details.
Q06: Is there a SmallEiffel mailing list?
A06: Yes! SmallEiffel users and developpers can share their
experiences and ideas by subscribing to the [20]SmallEiffel official
mailing list.
Q07: What about the Guru section?
A07: Some feature section of the SmallEiffel library are labelled with
:
feature -- The Guru section :
If you really need your software to be portable on other Eiffel
compilers, do not use those features.
Q08: Is it difficult to switch from ISE to SmallEiffel?
A08: If your original ISE software only uses simple types like
INTEGER, STRING, ARRAY, BOOLEAN, CHARACTER and DOUBLE, it is usually
very simple. It is a little bit difficult for simple input/output
(used with predefined `io') because some features have different
names. If your original software heavily relies on the EiffelBase
library, it may be very difficult. For example, one must keep in mind
that SmallEiffel.ARRAY inherit SmallEiffel.COLLECTION and that ISE
library also have a class COLLECTION. By the way, subclasses of
ISE.COLLECTION cannot be used. The ISE.LINKED_LIST can be used in
conjunction with SmallEiffel.ARRAY because ISE.LINKED_LIST do not
inherit ISE.COLLECTION (no clash).
Q09: Are there mirror FTP sites for SmallEiffel?
A09: Australia
[21]ftp://ftp.progsoc.uts.edu.au/pub/Eiffel/SmallEiffel/
Austria [22]http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/SmallEiffel/
USA [23]ftp://ftp.cs.rit.edu/pub/mirrors/SmallEiffel/
Q10: Is it possible to use the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector
with SmallEiffel?
A10: Yes.
You just have to disable the generation of the GC by SmallEiffel
(option -no_gc) and replace it by the BDW library. Note that the BDW
GC can be easily added because SmallEiffel only uses
malloc/realloc/calloc/free.
You can download the BDW library from :
[24]http://reality.sgi.com/boehm_mti/gc_source
How to integrate the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector with
SmallEiffel (from a message of Dietmar Wolz) :
1. Make the gc.a file from the BDW package. Then move this gc.a file
to /usr/lib/libgc.a.
2. Move gc.h the to working directory and add the following lines:
#define malloc(n) GC_malloc(n)
#define calloc(m,n) GC_malloc((m)*(n))
#define realloc(p,n) GC_realloc((p),(n))
#define free(p) GC_free(p)
3. instead of calling
"compile -o executable -boost -O root"
now call
"compile -o executable -boost -O root -no_gc -lgc -include
gc.h
Q11: Why don't you post more messages in newsgroups and/or mailing
lists?
A11: First, because we strongly believe that too much information
kills information. Scientists call this "cognitive overload". :)
Second, because we don't have the time. It takes an awful amount of
time to follow discussions, whichever their quality. We try to do
that. But it's even more time-consuming to be part of them. So, we
often have too choose betwen posting/mailing, and working directly on
SmallEiffel. Since our mailboxes tend to overflood, we generally
choose the latter :)
Q12: It is possible to create applets with compile_t_jvm?
A12: Not yet. SmallEiffel was designed to compile Eiffel applications
to C code or Java bytecode, but not applets.
Q13: Where do I send bug reports?
A13: You can send them either to [25]Dominique.Colnet@loria.fr and
Olivier.Zendra@loria.fr, or to [26]the SmallEiffel mailing-list.
Don't worry if you don't get an ack: we don't send them because it
takes time, but we store all the bug reports we receive. And we even
try to fix them ASAP! :)
Q14: Is there a mechanism to precompile libraries?
A14: No, there is no such mechanism in SmallEiffel. But if you're
concerned about speed, don't worry, precomputed libraries are not the
only way to be fast ! Just try SmallEiffel, and you'll see :)
Q15: How is SmallEiffel compiled?
A15: With Eiffel optimization options -boost and -no_gc. The garbage
collector is indeed useless on the SmallEiffel commands: since
SmallEiffel did not include a GC in its first versions, we were very
careful about memory when we developped it.
With C compilation optimizations turned on (it depends on the C
compiler used; we generally use GCC).
The resulting executables are stripped.
Q16: How do I keep well informed about SmallEiffel?
A16: The best way is to keep an eye on our web pages, more especially
on the [27]What's New? page and the [28]History of Changes.
People who want detailed information may also decide to stay tuned to
[29]the SmallEiffel mailing-list.
Q17:
What documentation is provided with SmallEiffel?
Where can I find Eiffel documentation?
A17: The documentation provided with SmallEiffel is a transcript of
what you can find on the original SmallEiffel Web site, at
[30]http://SmallEiffel.loria.fr. It is related only to the use and
internals of SmallEiffel (yes, we know we still have to improve it ;)
).
For information and documentation about the Eiffel language, check the
links on our [31]Internet resources page. Note that we are not aware
of any complete Eiffel language manual freely available on the Web
(yet?).
[Line]
Copyright © Dominique COLNET and Suzanne COLLIN -
[32]<colnet@loria.fr>
Last update: 14 May 1999, by OZ.
References
1. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q01
2. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q02
3. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q03
4. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q04
5. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q05
6. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q06
7. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q07
8. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q08
9. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q09
10. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q10
11. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q11
12. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q12
13. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q13
14. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q14
15. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q15
16. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q16
17. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q17
18. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/support.html
19. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/compile.html
20. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/mailing-list.html
21. ftp://ftp.progsoc.uts.edu.au/pub/Eiffel/SmallEiffel/
22. http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/SmallEiffel/
23. ftp://ftp.cs.rit.edu/pub/mirrors/SmallEiffel/
24. http://reality.sgi.com/boehm_mti/gc_source/
25. mailto:Dominique.Colnet@loria.fr,Olivier.Zendra@loria.fr
26. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/mailing-list.html
27. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/general/whatsnew.html
28. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/misc/HISTORY.html
29. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/mailing-list.html
30. http://SmallEiffel.loria.fr/
31. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/general/resources.html
32. mailto:colnet@loria.fr