Menu
The title says everything. I am talking about C/C++ specifically, because both consider this as "implementation issue". I think, defining a standard interface can ease building a module system on top of it, and many other good things.
What could C/C++ "lose" if they defined a standard ABI?
279
C has no standard ABI in principle, but in practice, this rarely matters: You do what your OS-vendor does. Take the calling conventions on x86 Windows, for example: The Windows API uses the so-called 'standard' calling convention (stdcall). Thus, any compiler which wants to interface with the OS needs to implement it.
A complete ABI, such as the Intel Binary Compatibility Standard (iBCS), allows a program from one operating system supporting that ABI to run without modifications on any other such system, provided that necessary shared libraries are present, and similar prerequisites are fulfilled.
The freedom to implement things in the most natural way on each processor.
I imagine that c in particular has conforming implementations on more different architectures than any other language. Abiding by a ABI optimized for the currently common, high-end, general-purpose CPUs would require unnatural contortions on some the odder machines out there.
52
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
