Re: GCC release notes, aka, Ada is still alive!

[Fernando Oleo Blanco <irvise_ml@irvise.xyz>]

On 20.10.21 10:42, Fernando Oleo Blanco wrote:
> The discussion thread on the GCC ML has been started. You can find it 
> here: https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2021-October/237600.html
> 
> Do not hesitate to add any comments!
> 
> Regards,

Okay, we already had a couple of comments and they cover everything 
needed. Arnaud has volunteered to be the "supervisor". So here is my 
plan: crowdsourcing! :D

I would like to write a (simple) list of changes for each version here, 
on the CLA. If you want to add something __copy__ (do not quote) the 
list from the previous person/reply/modification and add your proposed 
changes. You can also make comments if you would like anything changed. 
If "CHECK" or if "TODO" are written by somebody, it means that something 
needs to be checked or that it needs to be expanded; respectively. After 
the list is mostly completed, we could create a patch(es) to send to 
GCC. The quality of this list is not going to be great, treat it like a 
checklist. Obviously, if you want to discuss something about the 
changes, do quote the relevant section.

So here it goes:

BEGIN CHANGES_LIST

GCC 12
-
- Further library improvements in both quality and performance.
- The use of contracts has been extended in the "Ada library" allowing 
for further checks at runtime or a deeper static analysis with the SPARK 
prover.
- Further improvements to embedded systems such as VxWorks and RTMS. 
CHECK maybe be more specific/generic.

GCC 11
- Introduction of the -gnat2022 flag in gnatmake. It enables newer 
features present in Ada 2022 (still to be ratified). This features are 
still experimental.
   - The parallel keyword is still unsupported.
   - TODO name the additional features. See [1], obviously, with some 
code examples.
   - Addition of the Jorvik profile. CHECK, see [2], maybe code examples?
- Additional non-standard features [3]. CHECK if this applies to GCC 11 
or 12.
- A bug was fixed were previous GCC versions allowed XXX construct 
CHECK. This is not allowed by the standard. Some software was making use 
of XXX (which is, once again, not allowed) and it has to be patched.
- General library improvements in both clarity and performance.
- The use of contracts has been extended in the "Ada library" allowing 
for further checks at runtime or a deeper static analysis with the SPARK 
prover.
- Further improvements to embedded systems such as VxWorks and RTMS. 
CHECK maybe be more specific/generic.


GCC 10
- Some Ada 2022 features are available already with the use of the 
-gnatX (gnat eXtensions switch).
-

GCC 9
-
-


PREVIOUS GCCs (I will not explicitly name them, feel free to add info here)


References
[1] https://blog.adacore.com/ada-202x-support-in-gnat
[2] https://blog.adacore.com/introduction-to-jorvik
[3] https://blog.adacore.com/going-beyond-ada-2022

END CHANGES_LIST

Regards,
-- 
Fernando Oleo Blanco
https://irvise.xyz