Clang as compiler

[javalsai]

Wanted to get some community feedback on this. Clang supports using _Nullable and _Nonnull annotations on pointers that seem too sweet and I'd like to use them without filling the code with macro use of:

#if defined(__clang__)
  #define NULLABLE _Nullable
#else
  #define NULLABLE
#endif

Imo its just better in general to not put a million hacks to support several analysis tools and focus on a common compatible toolset, but this would mean dropping gcc in favor of clang and idk if gcc is better at compiling or something I might be aware of. gcc also usually comes installed by default and clang would be an addtional dependecy step.

A quick test even shows that clang made a ever so slightly smaller binary, idk about speed optimizations though.

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I mean, we're already using clang-format and I'm working on getting clang-tidy working too.

on a sidenote, god I wish I could make polls here

[grialion]

-1 on this

I wouldn't like supporting only clang instead of GCC.
I feel like it's pointless to implement clang only features in this scenario, instead just keep things simple.

You're also right on the clang dependency addition, it is quite a heavy package and does not fit the simplicity and lightweight nature of this project, in my opinion.

Or would clang only be used for code analysis?
Supporting both GCC and clang for actual code compilation (e.g. when the user builds manually) would be great though.

[javalsai]

does not fit the simplicity and lightweight nature of this project, in my opinion.

trueee

I just want it for code analysis and don't mix tooling, for now I'm keeping the macro up but I feel it's gonna be a hassle in the long term. I agree that dropping gcc doesn't follow project philosophy.

[javalsai]

Really gotta keep a close eye on clang though, even for alternative use. Just doing some changes and refactoring a lot of config parsing (getting rid of yanderedev code with offset tables and why not add defaults and a more toml-like syntax), the binary size grew about 10 KiB (54KiB) but if I compile with clang I get it down to 46 KiB, almost like it didn't grow at all.

[grialion]

Except for the hundreds of megabytes the compiler toolchain takes up.

[javalsai]

True, but released binary users would just care about the final result. I just find amazing how clang can manage some things, huge downside the size of it though.