Differences From
Artifact [3181eecb08]:
31 31 9. **compatibility.** code that links against libk should be able to compile and run on any operating system. in the ideal case (Linux or FreeBSD) it will be able to do so without touching any other system libraries; for less ideal environments like Windows, libk will when necessary abstract over system libraries or libc itself.
32 32 10. **sane error-handling.** every time you type `errno` god murders a puppy.
33 33
34 34 ## dependencies
35 35
36 36 libk is designed to be as portable and depedency-free as possible. ideally, it will be possible to compile code against libk using nothing but libk itself.
37 37
38 -compiling libk is also designed to be as easy as possible. it has only two external dependencies, the macro processor [gpp], needed for compile-time header generation , and the [GNU make] utility, whose advanced features are needed to perform the relatively complex task of building all of libk from the ground up.
38 +compiling libk is also designed to be as easy as possible. it has only two external dependencies, the macro processor [m4], needed for compile-time header generation, and the [GNU make] utility, whose advanced features are needed to perform the relatively complex task of building all of libk from the ground up.
39 39
40 - [gpp]: http://en.nothingisreal.com/wiki/GPP
40 + [m4]: http://www.gnu.org/software/m4
41 41 [GNU make]: http://www.gnu.org/software/make
42 42
43 -while gpp is a very small program that builds quickly and has no major dependencies of its own, it is an obscure program not likely to be found in any repositories and with an uncertain future. for these reasons, adding m4 translations of the gpp headers should be a long-term priority. being able to be built with both a very small, easily built macro processor, and a very large but extremely well-supported processor, should make libk maximally buildable and future-proof.
44 -
45 -while this project will include gpp tooling and GNU makefiles designed to ease the task of writing and building libk code (as well as tools in many other languages, including native binaries that compile against libk), none of them are required for the task.
43 +a different macro processor, gpp, was used in early versions of libk, however, it was so obscure and took so much overly fragile infrastructure to make it work that the cleaner syntax just wasn't worth it; i've since deleted the gpp infra and ported the macro files to m4.
46 44
47 45 ## naming conventions
48 46
49 47 one of the most frustrating things about libc is its complete and total *lack* of a naming convention. in C, every function and global is injected into a single global namespace, including macros. this means that every libc header you include scatters words all over that namespace, potentially clobbering your function with a macro!
50 48
51 49 libk is designed to fix this (in hindsight) glaring error.
52 50