nimforum mirror - DLL Terms

sls1005 (orginal) [2023-05-26T05:33:43+02:00] view original

I think the documentation for nimrtl is not clear enough. The first time I saw it, I thought it's something Windows-only, as it only mentions DLL. It took me a few time to figure out that DLL means shared library, and that nimrtl.dll is called libnimrtl.so on Linux-based systems, so I think the documentation needs to be updated.

awr1 (orginal) [2023-06-05T08:56:44+02:00] view original

I agree (Nim has the habit of being a little Windows-centric) - perhaps submit a PR?

termer (orginal) [2023-06-06T09:48:51+02:00] view original

Nim being Windows-centric is probably a good thing, given the fact that C itself is very Unix-centric. Balances things out a bit and makes sure people can actually write cross-platform applications with it.

Araq (orginal) [2023-06-06T11:02:47+02:00] view original

I simply use the terms that make more sense and Unix tends to lose these "fights":

"binary": it's a digital computer, everything is in binary, including text. "exe": yes, that's it, it's an executable.

"shared object": Well they don't have to be shared and are not "object" files plus an "object" file has nothing to do with "objects" in memory. "dll": "dynamically loaded library", nails it.

Path separator: The colon, in what world is ':' a separator for a linear list of things. Semicolon: Yes, fits.

"usr", "etc", "opt": No comment required.

sls1005 (orginal) [2023-06-06T18:10:58+02:00] view original

But I think it's better to make the documentation more friendly to those from different systems. In this case, it could be described as "nimrtl.dll, also known as libnimrtl, is ..."

SolitudeSF (orginal) [2023-06-06T18:19:41+02:00] view original

araq try not to deflect criticism by throwing pointless jabs at unix challenge (impossible)

Araq (orginal) [2023-06-06T18:29:13+02:00] view original

I don't "deflect criticism", I try to say things that you haven't heard a million times on social media already. And I'm well aware that there is a certain percentage of people out there that treats Unix like a religion.

awr1 (orginal) [2023-06-06T21:08:52+02:00] view original

imo Win32/NT is for the most part more sensibly designed than UNIX (and even then, MacOS tries to hide its UNIX heritage very frequently, aside from the most basic OS bookkeeping substrata)

in any case it matters little because (being a cross-platform language, as most languages tend to be) Nim inevitably has to live in both worlds at once.

termer (orginal) [2023-06-10T21:19:32+02:00] view original

I would like some clarity and have usage of nimrtl.dll clarified at least once. I use Linux but I also tend to call these things DLLs in the context of multiplatform programs because that's what everyone understands. With that said, many people write Nim purely for Unix-based operating systems and aren't in that mindset, so it'd be best to mention something about its alternate name. This isn't one of those cases where you need a one-size-fits-all solution, it's as simple as saying "which is also called libnimrtl.so on Unix-based systems" lol

marcusramberg (orginal) [2023-06-11T09:47:57+02:00] view original

I agree that the doc makes it sound like it’s for windows only, and I don’t see the point of arguing the merits of each platform.

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10225 :: DLL Terms