Static Linking

[stugol]

[Placeholder issue to ensure that static compilation remains an active high-priority goal]

Crystal does not support static (no dependancies) compilation. Onyx needs to support this. Presumably (due to OS limitations) libc will continue to be dynamically dependant, but everything else must be statically linkable. In fact, I propose that static linking be the default mode!

In this day and age, there is no advantage to dynamic linking; and plenty of disadvantages.

[ozra]

dev-build: default to dynamic, release-build: default to static. Much reasonable.

[ozra]

I took the liberty to edit out "HIGH PRIORITY: " from title - prioritization is in Roadmap issue.

[Sod-Almighty]

Continued lack of this feature is the single biggest reason why I have not yet written a single line of Onyx. Once this is solved, I will start actively using it.

[ozra]

Yes, this is highly desirable! Effort must however go into actually shaping the language so that the loose ends are cut off and the specs stabilize to a predictably usable form (this and that are obviously still changing in rather profound ways). Spending time on architecture level compiler coding must unfortunately come later for me - I only have two hands. Help is highly appreciated! B-)

[Sod-Almighty]

I'm afraid I would be utterly useless working on the compiler. I can probably help with other stuff though, if there's a need for it. What needs doing besides the compiler?

[ozra]

Well, documentation is an obvious candidate. I could focus on finishing the last "core" parts there, so the repo can go public. But first finish the type introspection. Then I'll go for braces after those two.

[Sod-Almighty]

What needs doing on the documentation? Are we starting from scratch, or tidying up an existing document?

Are we going for a language reference and a brief tutorial? A little bit like the Crystal doc page?

[Sod-Almighty]

I guess I could just use the Crystal docs as a starting point. What format are we after? A PDF? A bunch of HTML files in the repo? An actual website?

[ozra]

Continued in #99

[ozra]

Took the liberty of changing the title, since it's linking we're talking about. Static compilation brings the mind to constexpr-stuff for me ;-)