Re: When is the C++ transition needed?
On Thu, Oct 06, 2005 at 09:24:19PM -0400, Nathanael Nerode wrote:
> Brian Carlson wrote:
> >> You must not pass by reference with an extern "C" declaration, because C
> >> doesn't support that.
> Dan Jacobowitz wrote:
> >Why not? An extern C definition doesn't mean that it needs to be
> >usable from C. It just means to use the C calling convention.
> Perhaps because there is no C calling convention for passing by reference?
> How to pass arguments is part of the calling convention. :-P You can pass
> C++-only objects, certainly, but you have to be able to pass them in a way
> which is understood in the C calling convention.
That's incorrect. The C++ ABI uses a defined convention for passing by
reference, and with a different prototype and some care, or from
assembly, you can duplicate the effect.
The primary effect of extern "C" is just disabling mangling.
--
Daniel Jacobowitz
CodeSourcery, LLC
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