SmallEiffel Frequently Asked Questions
 
Q01: Why the name SmallEiffel The GNU Eiffel Compiler? 
Q02: What about the version numbering? 
Q03: Is it possible to have the complete Eiffel source of SmallEiffel? 
Q04: Is it possible to use SmallEiffel for large/commercial applications? 
Q05: Is it possible to do incremental compilation with SmallEiffel? 
Q06: Is there as SmallEiffel mailing list? 
Q07: What about the Guru section? 
Q08: Is it difficult to switch from ISE to SmallEiffel? 
Q09: Are there Mirrors ftp sites for SmallEiffel? 

Q01: Why the name SmallEiffel The GNU Eiffel Compiler? 
A01: SmallEiffel comes from the mixing of the names Smalltalk and Eiffel. Our aim is to offer an Eiffel development environment as easy to use as Smalltalk and as safe as Eiffel. Since version -0.82, SmallEiffel has been promoted by the Free Software Foundation the official GNU Eiffel Compiler.
 
Q02: What about the version numbering? 
A02: Version numbering uses negative numbers. The first distributed version was numbered -0.99, the second one -0.98, the third -0.97, and so on. Version number -0.0 should correspond to the very best Eiffel compiler on this planet :-) 
 
Q03: Is it possible to have the complete Eiffel source of SmallEiffel? 
A03: Since it is GNU, the complete source code of SmallEiffel is in the distribution. The source code for additional libraries is also provided.
 
Q04: Is it possible to use SmallEiffel for large/commercial applications? 
A04: It is very possible to use SmallEiffel for a large application. An Eiffel compiler is a really big project and SmallEiffel itself is fully written in (Small)Eiffel. SmallEiffel is completely free and any private compagny can use SmallEiffel freely, and distribute freely the products made with it. They do not have to pay royalties. However, SmallEiffel doesn't come with any varranty (please read the DISCLAIMER file in the distribution). Nonetheless, if you do want a warranty and/or an extended support, you will have to pay a reasonable fee (each year) for it. It is also possible to discuss specific needs you may have in your business. Please contact Dominique COLNET at colnet@loria.fr for more information. [You may want to do so too if you want to financially support the SmallEiffel team and help them keep up the good work !]." 
 
Q05: Is it possible to do incremental compilation with SmallEiffel? 
A05: Before release -0.91 the answer was no. Whith the current release, the answer is now YES. Because of the SmallEiffel type inference mechanism, SmallEiffel always produces all needed C files from scratch. As old C files are automatically saved, only modified C files are recompiled. See man/compile for details. 
 
Q06: Is there a SmallEiffel mailing list?
A06: Yes! SmallEiffel users and developpers can share their experiences and ideas by subscribing to the SmallEiffel official mailing list.
 
Q07: What about the Guru section? 
A07: Some feature section of the SmallEiffel library are labelled with : 
     feature -- The Guru section :  
If you really need your software to be portable on other Eiffel compilers, do not use those features. 
 
Q08: Is it difficult to switch from ISE to SmallEiffel? 
A08: If your original ISE software only uses simple types like INTEGER, STRING, ARRAY, BOOLEAN, CHARACTER and DOUBLE, it is usually very simple. It is a little bit difficult for simple input/output (used with predefined `io') because some features have different names. If your original software heavily relies on the EiffelBase library, it may be very difficult. For example, one must keep in mind that SmallEiffel.ARRAY inherit SmallEiffel.COLLECTION and that ISE library also have a class COLLECTION. By the way, subclasses of ISE.COLLECTION cannot be used. The ISE.LINKED_LIST can be used in conjunction with SmallEiffel.ARRAY because ISE.LINKED_LIST do not inherit ISE.COLLECTION (no clash). 
 
Q09: Are there Mirrors ftp sites for SmallEiffel? 
A09: Australia ftp://ftp.progsoc.uts.edu.au/pub/Eiffel/SmallEiffel/ 
Austria http://gd.tuwien.ac.at/pub/languages/SmallEiffel/ 
USA ftp://ftp.cs.rit.edu/pub/mirrors/SmallEiffel/ 
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Copyright © Dominique COLNET and Suzanne COLLIN - <colnet@loria.fr>
Last update: Friday, January 16th, 1997