Beginning C++ in FreeBSD

[Kai Grossjohann]

Daniela <dgw at liwest.at> writes:

> What? C++ code is converted to C? Which compiler are you using, and
> why the hell would a compiler do this?

In the old days, C++ was implemented by a program called cfront, I
believe, and it did convert C++ to C.

If you can write a program that converts language X to C, then you get
to take advantage of all the nifty optimizing C compilers out there.
If you try to go the direct route to compiling into machine language,
then you need to do the optimization part yourself.  So converting
into C as an intermediary language is an option that requires less
work.

GCC has a backend which can server as an intermediary language, I
guess, but if you convert into C, then you aren't even wedded to GCC.

Kai