Is GCC close to the ANSI standard C++?
What is lacking?
Is that being addressed?
Installation instructions - are they included?
What libraries are included?
Are they close to the ANSI standard?
What WIMP class libraries should be used with it (open for debate I know)?
Where can they be obtained?

Just a few questions to throw around. If there are more questions about the GCC compiler, I guess this is one place to ask them.

[Edited by Gulli at 16:47, 8/6/2001]

Is GCC close to the ANSI standard C++?

AIUI it's as good as anything else out there. The full ANSI C++ standard is extensive to say the least and even fully developed compilers (ie MS VC++) still lack various features.

The thing to note about GCC though is that it isn't (and probably never will be) validated against the ANSI C++ test suites as it'd cost too much.

What is lacking?

Not sure, but if I was to hazard a guess I'd say that potential problems may occur with templates (although AIUI GCC has extremely good support for these) and perhaps run time type information. I only suggest these areas as they're areas in which commerical compilers stuggle as well. I'm sure someone will correct me.

Is that being addressed?

GCC is being constantly developed by the open source community - I don't think you can say fairer than that.

Installation instructions - are they included?

AIUI they're pretty poor on RISC OS and a complete step by step guide needs to be written. I've recently ordered a machine that can run GCC so when it arrives, and I find some time to play, maybe I could write some for the iconbar or something (always assuming I can get it working).

What libraries are included?

None. Libraries that are available include Unixlib which implements a subset of useful unix calls and it can output code that can be linked with the SharedCLib. I'm not sure about the C++ libraries or the STL.

Are they close to the ANSI standard?

Well, the SharedCLib is. UnixLib isn't meant to implement the ANSI libraries. I would guess that any STL port would be close as it's likely to be based on something like STLPort from SG or something.

What WIMP class libraries should be used with it (open for debate I know)?

As far as I'm aware there aren't any really aimed at GCC. The only one with any pretense at development now seems to be RiscGuiLib. However it's slow going due to lack of time and people (unfortunately I don't know enough about WIMP programming to really contribute)

Where can they be obtained?

RiscGuiLib is at

http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/~rab/ro-guilib/

Other,unsupported libraries with source code available include

Dreamscape

http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/mseaborn/dscape/dscape.html

and there used to be one called Blue but the CFSFC site seems to have disappeared.

Personally I have never had problems installing and setting up GCC. It really is pretty simple... the only thing to be aware of with the versions currently available is that you should get pre-release 2 if you wish to build C++ apps (there are some weak link issues IIRC). Pre-release 3 works fine with C apps though. I don't know if this issue has been addressed in the SDK as I haven't got a machine setup at home where I could build a version :-(

Hopefully new binary versions will be forthcoming. There's a more recent build of UnixLib on Peter Naulls' site :
http://chocky.mine.nu/unix/

The only major trouble with C++ with GCC on RISC OS is the amount of RAM gobbled up and th time taken to build - these are hardware issues and not related to the port. If you can cross compile a big C++ app it is highly recommended that you do so unless you want a long wait...