In article <3b63f192@news.povray.org> , Warp <war### [at] tagpovrayorg>  wrote:

> : Yes, and one that isn't very well explained anywhere but in the source code
> : of compilers :-(
>
>   You might already know what virtual inheritance does, but let me explain it
> anyways in case anyone is interested (which I doubt, but for some reason I
> like to write these kind of things... :) ).

I was actually talking about implementing inheritance (and exceptions and
all the other neat C++ features).  For example Stroustrup (some where in one
of his books) claims exceptions can be implemented without some certain
runtime penalty, but he never really explains it or his other comments.

What I mean is that he and all other authors talk a lot about the language,
but I know about no book that actually tells me how to write a good compiler
for it (there seems to be little demand for such a book).  Books about
compiler design on the other hand usually don't talk about these advanced
language specific features.  The beginner books only show basics like how to
generate switch statements, while the advanced books deal mostly with
optimization algorithms...

    Thorsten

____________________________________________________
Thorsten Froehlich, Duisburg, Germany
e-mail: tho### [at] trfde

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