Ports with modern compilers

[Chuck Swiger]

On Jan 12, 2012, at 8:53 PM, Dmitry Sarkisov wrote:
> Hello list,
> 
> I'd like to try building my ports with features and optimizations modern complers provide.
> A couple of q. here:
> 
> 1. What's the safest (less painful) way to go - build with fresh gcc or clang/llvm?

For portable code, there shouldn't be much difference in terms of getting a working result.  Clang tries to have better diagnostics than gcc; gcc has been around for a lot longer, and is much more likely to work with less-portable code due to GNU'isms.

> 2. Is it ok to build new ports with new compiler, while already having a bunch of them build with default gcc version 4.2.1?

Yes.  A more complete answer would be mostly, so long as nobody has changed C++ symbol mangling or a host of other details.  Have fun, but don't expect too much benefit from recompiling things with a newer compiler.

Regards,
-- 
-Chuck