imported delegate patches from Daniel, new GetHashCode icalls

[mono.git] / web / c-sharp

diff --git a/web/c-sharp b/web/c-sharp
index 06c9eef6b08b13bc7010a8d21022a0995f9eba64..07c13831039f565c7387d00adf07002696f7e03b 100644 (file)
--- a/web/c-sharp
+++ b/web/c-sharp
@@ -1,20 +1,45 @@
 * MCS: The Ximian C# compiler
 
 * MCS: The Ximian C# compiler
 

-       MCS is currently able to compile small C# programs (there is
-       a test suite included that you can use).
+       MCS is currently able to compile itself and many more C#
+       programs (there is a test suite included that you can use).

 
        We are in feature completion mode right now.  There are still
        a couple of areas that are not covered by the Mono compiler, but
        they are very very few at this point.
 
 
        We are in feature completion mode right now.  There are still
        a couple of areas that are not covered by the Mono compiler, but
        they are very very few at this point.
 

-       Although MCS has been able to parse itself since April,
-       it can not yet compile itself.  We are working hard towards
-       mkaing the compiler self hosting in Linux.
+       MCS was able to parse itself on April 2001, MCS compiled itself
+       for the first time on December 28 2001.  MCS became self hosting
+       on January 3rd, 2002. 

 
 

-       A test suite is being built currently to track the progress of
+       A test suite is maintained to track the progress of

        the compiler and various programs are routinely compiled and
        ran.
 
        the compiler and various programs are routinely compiled and
        ran.
 

+** Obtaining MCS
+
+       The Mono C# compiler is part of the `mcs' module in the Mono CVS
+       you can get it from our <a href="anoncvs.html">Anonymous CVS</a> server,
+       or you can get nightly <a href="download.html">download page</a>.
+
+** Running MCS
+
+       MCS is written in C# and uses heavily the .NET APIs.  At this point
+       MCS only runs on Windows with the .NET Framework SDK installed.  Work
+       is progressing rapidly in our JIT engine and our class libraries to
+       allow MCS to be ran in non-Windows systems. 
+
+** Reporting Bugs in MCS
+
+       When you report a bug, try to provide a small test case that would
+       show the error so we can include this as part of the Mono C# regression
+       test suite.
+
+       If the bug is an error or a warning that we do not flag, write
+       a sample program called `csXXXX.cs' where XXXX is the code number
+       that is used by the Microsoft C# compiler that illustrates the 
+       problem.  That way we can also do regression tests on the invalid
+       input.  
+

 ** Phases of the compiler
 
        The compiler has a number of phases:
 ** Phases of the compiler
 
        The compiler has a number of phases:


@@ -48,26 +73,44 @@
 
                * Code generation: The code generation is done through
                  the System.Reflection.Emit API.
 
                * Code generation: The code generation is done through
                  the System.Reflection.Emit API.

-

        </ul>
 
        </ul>
 

+** CIL Optimizations.
+
+       The compiler performs a number of simple optimizations on its input:
+       constant folding (this is required by the C# language spec) and 
+       can perform dead code elimination.
+
+       Other more interesting optimizations like hoisting are not possible
+       at this point since the compiler output at this point does not
+       generate an intermediate representation that is suitable to
+       perform basic block computation.  
+
+       Adding an intermediate layer to enable the basic block
+       computation to the compiler should be a simple task, but we
+       are considering having a generic CIL optimizer.  Since all the
+       information that is required to perform basic block-based
+       optimizations is available at the CIL level, we might just skip
+       this step altogether and have just a generic IL optimizer that
+       would perform hoisting on arbitrary CIL programs, not only
+       those produced by MCS.  
+
+       If this tool is further expanded to perform constant folding
+       (not needed for our C# compiler, as it is already in there)
+       and dead code elimination, other compiler authors might be
+       able to use this generic CIL optimizer in their projects
+       reducing their time to develop a production compiler. 
+

 <a name="tasks">
 ** Current pending tasks
 
        Simple tasks:
 
        <ul>
 <a name="tasks">
 ** Current pending tasks
 
        Simple tasks:
 
        <ul>

-               * Extern declarations are missing.
+               * Redo the way we deal with built-in operators.

        </ul>
 
        Larger tasks:
        </ul>
 
        Larger tasks:

-
-       <ul>
-               * Finish constant folding.
-       </ul>
-
-       Interesting and Fun hacks to the compiler:
-

        <ul>
 
                * Jay does not work correctly with `error'
        <ul>
 
                * Jay does not work correctly with `error'


@@ -112,6 +155,10 @@ Q: If your C# compiler is written in C#, how do you plan on getting
    We will do this through an implementation of the CLI Virtual
    Execution System for Unix (our JIT engine). 
 
    We will do this through an implementation of the CLI Virtual
    Execution System for Unix (our JIT engine). 
 

+   Our JIT engine is working for the purposes of using the compiler.
+   The supporting class libraries are being worked on to fully support
+   the compiler.
+

 Q: Do you use Bison?
 
 A: No, currently I am using Jay which is a port of Berkeley Yacc to
 Q: Do you use Bison?
 
 A: No, currently I am using Jay which is a port of Berkeley Yacc to