• Jorge C (22/22) May 14 2005 Hi! I'm a newbie so beware :(
• Jarrett Billingsley (18/23) May 14 2005 Well, the way most OSes do it (Windows included) is you have a bunch of
• Kevin Bealer (13/35) May 14 2005 A wrapper library is an interface to a library written in another langua...

"Jorge C" <rdc02271 yahoo.com> writes:

Hi! I'm a newbie so beware :(

When you create a new langauge like D how do you create the libraries to 
work with
the operating system(For instance Windows) ?
Do you create wrappers around the OS API or do you create assembly code to 
work with the Operating system?
For instance : window management - What would you a D compatible library to 
work with the operating system window management system?
Or would you create on your window management system?

Confusing, right? :( I know....

Can any of you show me an example of what you be the perfect solution for 
the libraries problems? At the moment D isn't very useful for a newbie 
because it lacks libraries to work with the window management system, 
databases,etc.

I don't understand what you folks mean when you say "native D library 
instead of a wrapper library"...
Anyone cares to explain, give some links where can I find this info...

My views: a native D library would be made in assembly code which would 
eventually call (respect) the operating system API....

I'm lost...

Thanks for your help and attention.
Jorge C.

"Jarrett Billingsley" <kb3ctd2 yahoo.com> writes:

"Jorge C" <rdc02271 yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:d6510s$18q7$1 digitaldaemon.com...
 When you create a new langauge like D how do you create the libraries to 
 work with
 the operating system(For instance Windows) ?
 Do you create wrappers around the OS API or do you create assembly code to 
 work with the Operating system?

Well, the way most OSes do it (Windows included) is you have a bunch of 
header files and libraries.  The header files define the names and 
parameters of all the functions, and the libraries contain references to the 
internal workings of the OS (in Windows, for example, I think it's called 
NTKERNEL).

When you make a Windows program, you import the header files that you need. 
So say you need to access MessageBox().  You import the module that contains 
the MessageBox() function declaration, and you also tell the compiler to use 
the win32.lib library.

When your program is compiled, it is turned into an object file, which has 
references to MessageBox(), but doesn't actually have the code.  It is then 
linked with the win32.lib, which turns the MessageBox() references into 
actually valid calls to the internal Windows function called MessageBox().

There are already headers and libs for D for Windows and Linux.  It comes 
with std.c.windows.windows and std.c.linux.linux.  You'll have to set up 
your command line to include the appropriate OS library as well. 

Kevin Bealer <Kevin_member pathlink.com> writes:

In article <d6510s$18q7$1 digitaldaemon.com>, Jorge C says...
Hi! I'm a newbie so beware :(

When you create a new langauge like D how do you create the libraries to 
work with
the operating system(For instance Windows) ?
Do you create wrappers around the OS API or do you create assembly code to 
work with the Operating system?
For instance : window management - What would you a D compatible library to 
work with the operating system window management system?
Or would you create on your window management system?

Confusing, right? :( I know....

Can any of you show me an example of what you be the perfect solution for 
the libraries problems? At the moment D isn't very useful for a newbie 
because it lacks libraries to work with the window management system, 
databases,etc.

I don't understand what you folks mean when you say "native D library 
instead of a wrapper library"...
Anyone cares to explain, give some links where can I find this info...

A wrapper library is an interface to a library written in another language.  If
you have a C++ or C library you can write D interfaces to it.  Many languages
have this ability.

In D, the method used to do this (as I understand it) is usually to write D
function interfaces and then link to a C library that satisfies these functions.

My views: a native D library would be made in assembly code which would 
eventually call (respect) the operating system API....

Possible, but unlike Java, for example, that has trouble interfacing to the
hardware, D can do most of this without ASM code.  You can do most or all of
what C can do when dealing with memory and hardware.

Kevin

I'm lost...

Thanks for your help and attention.
Jorge C.

P.S. I've found the "search" link at the top of the D front page to be very
helpful.

Kevin