Compiler for D Programming Language
Downloads
Download D CompilerFiles Common to Win32 and Linux
- \dmd\src\phobos\
- D runtime library source
- \dmd\src\dmd\
- D compiler front end source under dual (GPL and Artistic) license
- \dmd\html\d\
- Documentation
- \dmd\samples\d\
- Sample D programs
DMD Win32 D Compiler
Requirements and Downloads
- 32 bit Windows (Win32) operating system, such as Windows XP
- Download dmd
- Download dmc.zip (linker and utilities) for Win32
Files
- \dmd\bin\dmd.exe
- D compiler executable
- \dmd\bin\shell.exe
- Simple command line shell
- \dmd\bin\sc.ini
- Global compiler settings
- \dmd\lib\phobos.lib
- D runtime library
Installation
Open a console window (for Windows XP this is done by clicking on [Start][Command Prompt]). All the tools are command line tools, which means they are run from a console window. Switch to the root directory. Unzip the files in the root directory. dmd.zip will create a \dmd directory with all the files in it. dmc.zip will create a \dm directory with all the files in it.
A typical session might look like:
C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name>cd \ C:\>unzip dmd.zip C:\>unzip dmc.zip
Example
Run:
\dmd\bin\shell all.sh
in the \dmd\samples\d directory for several small examples.
Compiler Arguments and Switches
- dmd files... -switches...
- files...
-
Extension File Type none D source files .d D source files .di D interface files .obj Object files to link in .lib Object code libraries to search .exe Name output executable file .def module definition file .res resource file - @cmdfile
- reads compiler arguments and switches from text file cmdfile
- -c
- compile only, do not link
- -cov
- instrument for code coverage analysis
- -D
- Generate documentation from source.
- -Dddocdir
- write documentation file to docdir directory
- -Dffilename
- write documentation file to filename
- -d
- allow deprecated features
- -debug
- compile in debug code
- -debug=level
- compile in debug code <= level
- -debug=ident
- compile in debug code identified by ident
- -debuglib=libname
- link in libname as the default library when compiling for symbolic debugging instead of phobos.lib
- -defaultlib=libname
- link in libname as the default library when not compiling for symbolic debugging instead of phobos.lib
- -g
- add CodeView 4 symbolic debug info with D extensions for debuggers such as Ddbg
- -gc
- add CodeView 4 symbolic debug info in C format for debuggers such as \dmd\bin\windbg
- -H
- generate D interface file
- -Hddir
- write D interface file to dir directory
- -Hffilename
- write D interface file to filename
- --help
- print help
- -inline
- inline expand functions
- -Ipath
- where to look for imports. path is a ; separated list of paths. Multiple -I's can be used, and the paths are searched in the same order.
- -Jpath
- where to look for files for ImportExpressions. This switch is required in order to use ImportExpressions. path is a ; separated list of paths. Multiple -J's can be used, and the paths are searched in the same order.
- -Llinkerflag
- pass linkerflag to the linker, for example, /ma/li
- -nofloat
- Prevents emission of __fltused reference in object files, even if floating point code is present. Useful for library code. Windows only.
- -O
- Optimize generated code.
- -o-
- Suppress generation of object file. Useful in conjuction with -D or -H flags.
- -odobjdir
- write object files relative to directory objdir instead of to the current directory
- -offilename
- set output file name to filename in the output directory
- -op
- normally the path for .d source files is stripped off when generating an object file name. -op will leave it on.
- -profile
- profile the runtime performance of the generated code
- -quiet
- suppress non-essential compiler messages
- -release
- compile release version, which means not generating code for contracts and asserts
- -run srcfile args...
- compile, link, and run the program srcfile with the rest of the command line, args..., as the arguments to the program. No .obj or .exe file is left behind.
- -unittest
- compile in unittest code, also turns on asserts
- -v
- verbose
- -version=level
- compile in version code >= level
- -version=ident
- compile in version code identified by ident
- -w
- enable warnings
Linking
Linking is done directly by the dmd compiler after a successful compile. To prevent dmd from running the linker, use the -c switch.
The programs must be linked with the D runtime library phobos.lib, followed by the C runtime library snn.lib. This is done automatically as long as the directories for the libraries are on the LIB environment variable path. A typical way to set LIB would be:
set LIB=\dmd\lib;\dm\lib
Environment Variables
The D compiler dmd uses the following environment variables:
- DFLAGS
- The value of DFLAGS is treated as if it were appended to the command line to dmd.exe.
- LIB
- The linker uses LIB to search for library files. For D, it will
normally be set to:
set LIB=\dmd\lib;\dm\lib
- LINKCMD
- dmd normally runs the linker by looking for link.exe
along the PATH. To use a specific linker instead, set the
LINKCMD environment variable to it. For example:
set LINKCMD=\dm\bin\link
- PATH
- If the linker is not found in the same directory as dmd.exe is in, the PATH is searched for it. Note: other linkers named link.exe will likely not work. Make sure the Digital Mars link.exe is found first in the PATH before other link.exe's, or use LINKCMD to specifically identify which linker to use.
sc.ini Initialization File
dmd will look for the initialization file sc.ini in the following sequence of directories:
- current working directory
- directory specified by the HOME environment variable
- directory dmd.exe resides in
If found, environment variable settings in the file will override any existing settings. This is handy to make dmd independent of programs with conflicting use of environment variables.
Initialization File Format
Comments are lines that begin with ; and are ignored.
Environment variables follow the [Environment] section heading, in NAME=value pairs. The NAMEs are treated as upper case. Comments are lines that start with ;. For example:
; sc.ini file for dmd ; Names enclosed by %% are searched for in the existing environment ; and inserted. The special name %@P% is replaced with the path ; to this file. [Environment] LIB="%@P%\..\lib";\dm\lib DFLAGS="-I%@P%\..\src\phobos" LINKCMD="%@P%\..\..\dm\bin" DDOCFILE=mysettings.ddoc
Location Independence of sc.ini
The %@P% is replaced with the path to sc.ini. Thus, if the fully qualified file name sc.ini is c:\dmd\bin\sc.ini, then %@P% will be replaced with c:\dmd\bin, and the above sc.ini will be interpreted as:
[Environment] LIB="c:\dmd\bin\..\lib";\dm\lib DFLAGS="-Ic:\dmd\bin\..\src\phobos" LINKCMD="c:\dmd\bin\..\..\dm\bin" DDOCFILE=mysettings.ddoc
This enables your dmd setup to be moved around without having to re-edit sc.ini.
Common Installation Problems
- Using Cygwin's unzip utility has been known to cause strange problems.
- Running the compiler under Cygwin's command shell has been also known to cause problems. Try getting it to work under the regular Windows shell cmd.exe before trying Cygwin's.
- Installing dmd and dmc into directory paths with spaces in them causes problems.
Linux D Compiler
Requirements and Downloads
- 32 bit x86 Linux operating system
- Download dmd
- Gnu C compiler (gcc)
Files
- /dmd/bin/dmd
- D compiler executable
- /dmd/bin/dumpobj
- Elf file dumper
- /dmd/bin/obj2asm
- Elf file disassembler
- /dmd/bin/dmd.conf
- Global compiler settings (copy to /etc/dmd.conf)
- /dmd/lib/libphobos.a
- D runtime library (copy to /usr/lib/libphobos.a)
Installation
- Unzip the archive into your home directory. It will create a ~/dmd directory with all the files in it. All the tools are command line tools, which means they are run from a console window.
- Copy dmd.conf to /etc:
cp dmd/bin/dmd.conf /etc
- Give execute permission to the following files:
chmod u+x dmd/bin/{dmd,dumpobj,obj2asm,rdmd}
- Put dmd/bin on your PATH, or copy the linux executables to /usr/local/bin
- Copy the library to /usr/lib:
cp dmd/lib/libphobos.a /usr/lib
Compiler Arguments and Switches
- dmd files... -switch...
- files...
-
Extension File Type none D source files .d D source files .di D interface files .o Object files to link in .a Library files to link in - -c
- compile only, do not link
- -cov
- instrument for code coverage analysis
- -D
- generate documentation
- -Dddocdir
- write documentation file to docdir directory
- -Dffilename
- write documentation file to filename
- -d
- allow deprecated features
- -debug
- compile in debug code
- -debug=level
- compile in debug code <= level
- -debug=ident
- compile in debug code identified by ident
- -debuglib=libname
- link in libname as the default library when compiling for symbolic debugging instead of libphobos.a
- -defaultlib=libname
- link in libname as the default library when not compiling for symbolic debugging instead of libphobos.a
- -fPIC
- generate position independent code
- -g
- add Dwarf symbolic debug info with D extensions for debuggers such as ZeroBUGS
- -gc
- add Dwarf symbolic debug info in C format for debuggers such as gdb
- -H
- generate D interface file
- -Hddir
- write D interface file to dir directory
- -Hffilename
- write D interface file to filename
- --help
- print help
- -inline
- inline expand functions
- -Ipath
- where to look for imports. path is a ; separated list of paths. Multiple -I's can be used, and the paths are searched in the same order.
- -Jpath
- where to look for files for ImportExpressions. This switch is required in order to use ImportExpressions. path is a ; separated list of paths. Multiple -J's can be used, and the paths are searched in the same order.
- -Llinkerflag
- pass linkerflag to the linker, for example, -M
- -O
- optimize
- -o-
- suppress generation of object file
- -odobjdir
- write object files relative to directory objdir instead of to the current directory
- -offilename
- set output file name to filename in the output directory
- -op
- normally the path for .d source files is stripped off when generating an object file name. -op will leave it on.
- -quiet
- suppress non-essential compiler messages
- -profile
- profile the runtime performance of the generated code
- -release
- compile release version
- -run srcfile args...
- compile, link, and run the program srcfile with the rest of the command line, args..., as the arguments to the program. No .o or executable file is left behind.
- -unittest
- compile in unittest code
- -v
- verbose
- -version=level
- compile in version code >= level
- -version=ident
- compile in version code identified by ident
- -w
- enable warnings
Linking
Linking is done directly by the dmd compiler after a successful compile. To prevent dmd from running the linker, use the -c switch.
The actual linking is done by running gcc. This ensures compatibility with modules compiled with gcc.
Environment Variables
The D compiler dmd uses the following environment variables:- CC
- dmd normally runs the linker by looking for gcc
along the PATH. To use a specific linker instead, set the
CC environment variable to it. For example:
set CC=gcc
- DFLAGS
- The value of DFLAGS is treated as if it were appended to the command line to dmd.
dmd.conf Initialization File
The Linux dmd file dmd.conf is the same as sc.conf for Windows, it's just that the file has a different name, enabling a setup common to both Windows and Linux to be created without having to re-edit the file.
dmd will look for the initialization file dmd.conf in the following sequence of directories:
- current working directory
- directory specified by the HOME environment variable
- directory dmd resides in
- /etc/
If found, environment variable settings in the file will override any existing settings. This is handy to make dmd independent of programs with conflicting use of environment variables.
Environment variables follow the [Environment] section heading, in NAME=value pairs. The NAMEs are treated as upper case. Comments are lines that start with ;. For example:
; dmd.conf file for dmd ; Names enclosed by %% are searched for in the existing environment ; and inserted. The special name %@P% is replaced with the path ; to this file. [Environment] DFLAGS="-I%@P%/../src/phobos"
Differences from Win32 version
- String literals are read-only. Attempting to write to them will cause a segment violation.
- The configuration file is /etc/dmd.conf
General
D Interface Files
When an import declaration is processed in a D source file, the compiler searches for the D source file corresponding to the import, and processes that source file to extract the information needed from it. Alternatively, the compiler can instead look for a corresponding D interface file. A D interface file contains only what an import of the module needs, rather than the whole implementation of that module.
The advantages of using a D interface file for imports rather than a D source file are:
- D interface files are often significantly smaller and much faster to process than the corresponding D source file.
- They can be used to hide the source code, for example, one can ship an object code library along with D interface files rather than the complete source code.
D interface files can be created by the compiler from a D source file by using the -H switch to the compiler. D interface files have the .di file extension. When the compiler resolves an import declaration, it first looks for a .di D interface file, then it looks for a D source file.
D interface files bear some analogous similarities to C++ header files. But they are not required in the way that C++ header files are, and they are not part of the D language. They are a feature of the compiler, and serve only as an optimization of the build process.