diff options
author | Miguel de Icaza <miguel@gnome.org> | 2002-05-28 03:00:15 +0400 |
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committer | Miguel de Icaza <miguel@gnome.org> | 2002-05-28 03:00:15 +0400 |
commit | bc084bd5643321a14a25a6ab1f2332e5fd1f4af5 (patch) | |
tree | d150450e1de57f1ba4b290325e42730fba7fb656 /web/faq | |
parent | 3e7a1b19fdcc1592e66c5c890d6d23dcc3e9cdbc (diff) |
new items; Updated the FAQ to reflect reality; Fixes to the Mono-RSS program
svn path=/trunk/mono/; revision=4977
Diffstat (limited to 'web/faq')
-rw-r--r-- | web/faq | 110 |
1 files changed, 88 insertions, 22 deletions
@@ -103,19 +103,26 @@ Q: Is Mono usable? A: The JIT engine is usable on Intel x86 machines. An interpreter can be used on other non-Intel x86 machines. - The class libraries are not yet mature enough to run real applications, - but if you are interested in trying out Mono, you can definetly start - testing things out as many programs run. - - The C# compiler has made significant progress, it can even compile - itself now, but it can not yet be ran with our class libraries as - they are missing some features. + The class libraries are mature enough to run some real applications + (the compiler for instance, and every day more and more applications + are natively developed with Mono). Q: When will you ship it? -A: It is premature to target a shipdate for the code, but we - anticipate that it will be available some time in the middle of - 2002. +A: Different parts of Mono will achieve usability at different stages, + once we are comfortable with the compiler, we will release "Mono Core", + which contains everything needed to develop applications with the base + class libraries. This should be available at some point during 2002. + + Other higher level class libraries (ASP.NET, ADO.NET, Windows.Forms) will + be released when they become stable. + +Q: What major components will you include in Mono? + +A: Hopefully eveyrthing that Microsoft ships on their Framework + (ADO.NET, ASP.NET, Windows.Forms), and + we encourage third party developers to create reusable components that + work on both Mono and Windows. Q: How can I contribute? @@ -165,6 +172,13 @@ Q: Will Ximian offer Mono commercially? A: When Mono is ready to be shipped Ximian will offer a commercial support and services for Mono. +Q: Does Ximian provide consulting services around Mono? + +A: Yes, Ximian does provide consulting services around Mono to + make it suitable to your needs. Porting the runtime engine, + customizing it, working on specific classes or tuning the code + for your particular needs. + Q: Will you wait until Mono is finished? A: Mono will ship on various stages as they mature. Some people @@ -343,8 +357,48 @@ Q: What are the differences between Mono and Portable.NET? A: Most of Mono is being written using C#, with only a few parts written in C (The JIT engine, the runtime, the - interfaces to the garbage collection system). The Portable.NET - Project is using C for development. + interfaces to the garbage collection system). + + It is easier to describe what is unique about Mono: + <ul> + <li> A self-hosting C# compiler written in C#, which is clean, easy + to maintain. + + <li> A multi-platform runtime engine: both a JIT engine and an + interpreter exist. The JIT engine runs currently on x86 + systems, while the interpreter works on Sparc, StrongARM and + PowerPC systems. + + <li> Supports Linux, Windows and Solaris at this point. + + <li> The JIT engine is written using a portable instruction + selector which not only generates good code (we are told + that we are faster than Rotor, but it is hard to tell) but + is also the foundation to retarget the JIT engine to other + systems. + + The system employed is described in various compiler + books and it is very similar to what is described in the + book that covers LCC, the Ansi C retargetable C compiler. + + <li> The JIT engine supports inlining, constant folding and propagation, + + <li> Full support for remoting in the runtime, but the class + libraries are still behind. + + <li> The C# compiler, the JIT engine and the class libraries are + mature enough that the whole system is self-hosting, ie, that + it can be fully developed with itself at this point. + + <li> We are not yet done, and there is a lot of work left to be + done + + <li> We have a great community of developers, without which Mono + would not be possible. + + <li> We will provide an ahead of time compilation mode in the + future. + </ul> <a name="webservices"></a> ** Web Services @@ -524,7 +578,7 @@ A: Currently, we are doing our work on Linux-based systems and Windows. We do not expect many Linux-isms in the code, so it should be easy to port Mono to other UNIX variants. -Q: What about Mono on non X-based systems? +Q: What about Mono on non Linux-based systems? A: Our main intention at Ximian is to be able to develop GNOME applications with Mono, but if you are interested in providing a @@ -532,11 +586,17 @@ A: Our main intention at Ximian is to be able to develop GNOME MacOS X for example), we would gladly integrate them, as long they are under an open source license. -Q: Will Mono run on Windows? +Q: What operating systems/CPUs do you support + +A: Mono currently runs on Linux, Windows, Solaris and FreeBSD. + There is a JIT engine available for x86 processors that can + generate code and optimizations tailored for a particular CPU. + + Interpreters exist for the SPARC, PowerPC and StrongARM cpus. -A: Yes. Currently some parts of Mono only run on Windows - (the C# compiler is a .NET executable) and other parts have only - been compiled on Linux, and require Cygwin to compile on Windows. +Q: Does Mono run on Windows? + +A: Yes. The Compiler and the runtime both run on Windows. Q: Will I require Cygwin to run mono? @@ -564,11 +624,17 @@ A: At this time, we are investigating whether we can use elements of defined API that splits the JIT from the GC system and the actual byte code implementation. + We are using some pieces of ORP (Their code generation interface) + and we use it as a source of inspiration for optimizations. Paolo + and Dietmar consider ORP as being one of the best JIT engines out + there (and their research work and papers are very useful if you are + interested in JIT technology). + Q: What about using GNU Lightning? -A: We are also researching <a - href="http://www.gnu.org/software/lightning/lightning.html">GNU - Lightning</a>. +A: We are not using GNU Lightning. Our JIT is using an instruction + selector based on tree-pattern matching, and a code generation + interface that is very tied to the current architecture. <a name="gcc"></a> ** Mono and GCC @@ -672,8 +738,8 @@ A: No. First, its basic functional capabilities have pre-existed too open source software community with good development tools, which is the primary reason for developing Mono. -<a name="etc"></a> ** -Miscellaneous Questions +<a name="etc"></a> +** Miscellaneous Questions Q: You say that the CLI allows multiple languages to execute on the same environment. Isn't this the purpose of CORBA? |