[Mono-list] C# compiler command line parsing

Fergus Henderson fjh@cs.mu.oz.au
Thu, 28 Mar 2002 16:50:06 +1100


[cross-posted to both the Mono and DotGNU mailing lists]

On 27-Mar-2002, Miguel de Icaza <miguel@ximian.com> wrote:
> I am still considering adding csc-compatible command line parsing, so
> that we do not need to maintain different targets.  There is a small
> ambiguity, but I believe this is livable with (ie, if you try to compile
> a file called "/debug:on" :-)

POSIX has standardized the command-line interface to the C compiler.
Unfortunately there is no similar standard for the interface to the
C# compiler.

IMHO it would be a good idea to support a single command line interface
for all C# compilers -- MS, Mono, and Portable.Net -- and thus create a
de facto standard for this.  Supporting the same command-line interface
would make it much easier for people who are writing software that should
work with any C# compiler.

One way to do this would be to just add support for Microsoft's
command-line interface to the .NET and Mono C# compilers.  Another way
to do it would be to define a Unix-like command-line syntax, and write
a wrapper for Microsoft's csc that would convert the Unix-like syntax
into Microsoft's syntax and then invoke csc.  Software written in C#
could ship with this wrapper program included.

I don't really mind which way it is done, but it would certainly be nice
if the different C# compilers could all support the same command-line
interface.

-- 
Fergus Henderson <fjh@cs.mu.oz.au>  |  "I have always known that the pursuit
The University of Melbourne         |  of excellence is a lethal habit"
WWW: <http://www.cs.mu.oz.au/~fjh>  |     -- the last words of T. S. Garp.