Fwd: POSIX 2008 C Extensions and restrict Keyword

[Joel Sherrill]

On 7/9/2013 12:25 PM, Jonathan S. Shapiro wrote:
> Sorry - meant this for the list
>
> On Tue, Jul 9, 2013 at 8:59 AM, Craig Howland
> <howland@lgsinnovations.com> wrote:
>>
>> Assuming that it is done, however, we should use restrict, not __restrict.  The latter apparently dates from 2000 when the keyword was brand new.  Since it is now pushing 14 years, I suggest that updating sys/cdefs.h to get rid of the __ is in order....
>
> This is a particular case of a general argument. I should think the
> right way to proceed is to document that newlib requires compliance
> with at least {list of standards}, and then go through more generally
> and clean out stuff intended to support obsolete compilers.
I tend to be cautious and not want to remove the __restrict alternative.
It is easy to add it and have it be conditional.  If it means anything, it
appears glibc has these also.

My general concern is that I don't mind starting to fix a .h file and
its associated code -- one at a time. But I want some guidelines so
this isn't anymore painful than it has to be. :)
> Two caveats:
>
> 1. Some embedded targets are still stuck on legacy compilers. I don't
> know how many, which ones, and whether we should care.
>
> 2. Visual C, in particular, has haphazard standard support. Again, I
> don't know if this compiler is of any interest for newlib. Visual C++
> 2011 still doesn't comply with C99. Visual C++ 2013 plans
> improvements, but not complete compliance. Where C99 is supported, it
> is often with non-compliant syntax, semantics, and keywords. Which
> defies any definition of "support" that I comprehend, but there it is.
>
> On the bright side, WIndows users can always use the Intel compiler,
> which does support newer standards fully.


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