
                         Frequently Asked Questions
                                      
   Table of contents
   
   Q01: [1]Why the name SmallEiffel The GNU Eiffel Compiler?
   Q02: [2]What's the matter with version numbering?
   Q03: [3]Is it possible to have the complete Eiffel source of
   SmallEiffel?
   Q04: [4]Is it possible to use SmallEiffel for large/commercial
   applications?
   Q05: [5]Is it possible to do incremental compilation with
   SmallEiffel?
   Q06: [6]Is there a SmallEiffel mailing list?
   Q07: [7]What about the Guru section?
   Q08: [8]Is it difficult to switch from ISE to SmallEiffel?
   Q09: [9]Are there mirror FTP sites for SmallEiffel?
   Q10: [10]Is it possible to use the Boehm-Demers-Weiser GC with
   SmallEiffel?
   Q11: [11]Why don't you post more messages in newsgroups and/or mailing
   lists?
   Q12: [12]It is possible to create applets with compile_t_jvm?
   Q13: [13]Where do I send bug reports?
   
   Questions and answers
   
   Q01: Why the name SmallEiffel The GNU Eiffel Compiler?
   A01: SmallEiffel comes from the mixing of the names Smalltalk and
   Eiffel. Our aim is to offer an Eiffel development environment as easy
   to use as Smalltalk and as safe as Eiffel. Since version -0.82,
   SmallEiffel has been promoted by the Free Software Foundation the
   official GNU Eiffel Compiler.
   
   Q02: What's the matter with version numbering?
   A02: Version numbering uses negative numbers. The first distributed
   version was numbered -0.99, the second one -0.98, the third -0.97, and
   so on. Version number -0.0 should correspond to the very best Eiffel
   compiler on this planet :-)
   
   Q03: Is it possible to have the complete Eiffel source of
   SmallEiffel?
   A03: Since it is the GNU Eiffel Compiler, the complete source code of
   SmallEiffel is of course in the distribution. The source code for
   additional libraries is also provided.
   
   Q04: Is it possible to use SmallEiffel for large/commercial
   applications?
   A04: It is very possible to use SmallEiffel for a large application.
   An Eiffel compiler is a really big project and SmallEiffel itself is
   fully written in Eiffel. SmallEiffel is completely free and any
   private compagny can use SmallEiffel freely, and distribute freely the
   products made with it. They do not have to pay royalties. However,
   SmallEiffel doesn't come with any warranty (please read the COPYING
   file in the distribution). For extended support as well as consulting,
   see [14]here.
   
   Q05: Is it possible to do incremental compilation with SmallEiffel?
   A05: Before release -0.91 the answer was no. Whith the current
   release, the answer is now YES. Because of the SmallEiffel type
   inference mechanism, SmallEiffel always produces all needed C files
   from scratch. As old C files are automatically saved, only modified C
   files are recompiled. See [15]man/compile for details.
   
   Q06: Is there a SmallEiffel mailing list?
   A06: Yes! SmallEiffel users and developpers can share their
   experiences and ideas by subscribing to the [16]SmallEiffel official
   mailing list.
   
   Q07: What about the Guru section?
   A07: Some feature section of the SmallEiffel library are labelled with
   :
        feature -- The Guru section :
   If you really need your software to be portable on other Eiffel
   compilers, do not use those features.
   
   Q08: Is it difficult to switch from ISE to SmallEiffel?
   A08: If your original ISE software only uses simple types like
   INTEGER, STRING, ARRAY, BOOLEAN, CHARACTER and DOUBLE, it is usually
   very simple. It is a little bit difficult for simple input/output
   (used with predefined `io') because some features have different
   names. If your original software heavily relies on the EiffelBase
   library, it may be very difficult. For example, one must keep in mind
   that SmallEiffel.ARRAY inherit SmallEiffel.COLLECTION and that ISE
   library also have a class COLLECTION. By the way, subclasses of
   ISE.COLLECTION cannot be used. The ISE.LINKED_LIST can be used in
   conjunction with SmallEiffel.ARRAY because ISE.LINKED_LIST do not
   inherit ISE.COLLECTION (no clash).
   
   Q09: Are there mirror FTP sites for SmallEiffel?
   A09: Australia
   [17]ftp://ftp.progsoc.uts.edu.au/pub/Eiffel/SmallEiffel/
   Austria [18]http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/SmallEiffel/
   USA [19]ftp://ftp.cs.rit.edu/pub/mirrors/SmallEiffel/
   
   Q10: Is it possible to use the Boehm-Demers-Weiser GC with
   SmallEiffel?
   A10: Yes.
   You just have to disable the generation of the GC by SmallEiffel
   (option -no_gc) and replace it by the BDW library. Note that the BDW
   GC can be easily added because SmallEiffel only uses
   malloc/realloc/calloc/free.
   You can download the BDW library from :
   [20]http://reality.sgi.com/boehm_mti/gc_source
          
   How to integrate the Boehm-Demers-Weiser garbage collector with
   SmallEiffel (from a message of Dietmar Wolz) :
    1. Make the gc.a file from the BDW package. Then move this gc.a file
       to /usr/lib/libgc.a.
    2. Move gc.h the to working directory and add the following lines:
       #define malloc(n) GC_malloc(n)
       #define calloc(m,n) GC_malloc((m)*(n))
       #define realloc(p,n) GC_realloc((p),(n))
       #define free(p) GC_free(p)
    3. instead of calling
           "compile -o executable -boost -O root"
       now call
           "compile -o executable -boost -O root -no_gc -lgc -include
       gc.h
       
   
   Q11: Why don't you post more messages in newsgroups and/or mailing
   lists?
   A11: First, because we strongly believe that too much information
   kills information. Scientists call this "cognitive overload". :)
   Second, because we don't have the time. It takes an awful amount of
   time to follow discussions, whichever their quality. We try to do
   that. But it's even more time-consuming to be part of them. So, we
   often have too choose betwen posting/mailing, and working directly on
   SmallEiffel. Since our mailboxes tend to overflood, we generally
   choose the latter :)
   
   Q12: It is possible to create applets with compile_t_jvm?
   A12: Not yet. SmallEiffel was designed to compile Eiffel applications
   to C code or Java bytecode, but not applets.
   
   Q13: Where do I send bug reports?
   A13: You can send them either to [21]Dominique Colnet and Olivier
   Zendra, or to [22]the SmallEiffel mailing-list.
   Don't worry if you don't get an ack: we don't send them because it
   takes time, but we store all the bug reports we receive. And we even
   try to fix them ASAP! :)
   
                                   [Line]
                                      
             Copyright  Dominique COLNET and Suzanne COLLIN -
                           [23]<colnet@loria.fr>
              Last update: Sunday December 13th, 1998, by OZ. 

References

   1. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q01
   2. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q02
   3. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q03
   4. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q04
   5. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q05
   6. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q06
   7. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q07
   8. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q08
   9. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q09
  10. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q10
  11. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q11
  12. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q12
  13. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/SmallEiffelFAQ.html#Q13
  14. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/support.html
  15. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/man/compile.html
  16. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/mailing-list.html
  17. ftp://ftp.progsoc.uts.edu.au/pub/Eiffel/SmallEiffel/
  18. http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/SmallEiffel/
  19. ftp://ftp.cs.rit.edu/pub/mirrors/SmallEiffel/
  20. http://reality.sgi.com/boehm_mti/gc_source/
  21. mailto:colnet@loria.fr,zendra@loria.fr
  22. file://localhost/home/colnet/SmallEiffel/man/support/mailing-list.html
  23. mailto:colnet@loria.fr
