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diff --git a/web/question.rst b/web/question.rst deleted file mode 100644 index 54c392ced..000000000 --- a/web/question.rst +++ /dev/null @@ -1,194 +0,0 @@ -=========================================== - Questions and Answers -=========================================== - - -General FAQ -=========== - - -.. container:: standout - - What is Nim? - ------------ - - Nim (formerly known as "Nimrod") is a statically typed, imperative programming - language that tries to give the programmer ultimate power without compromises - on runtime efficiency. - This means it focuses on compile-time mechanisms in all their - various forms. Beneath a nice infix/indentation based syntax with a - powerful (AST based, hygienic) macro system lies a semantic model that supports - a soft realtime GC on thread local heaps. Asynchronous message passing is used - between threads, so no "stop the world" mechanism is necessary. An unsafe - shared memory heap is also provided for the increased efficiency that results - from that model. - - - -.. .. container:: standout - -.. Why should I use Nim? -.. --------------------- - -.. It's a conservative language in a sense that we stick to features that have -.. proven themselves for larger scale programming. But it's revolutionary by -.. the features which have been laid on top. - -.. One of Nim's goals is to increase developer productivity without sacrificing -.. the produced software's stability. The way that this is done is by providing - -.. Depending on your use case. - -.. Nim is one of the few programming languages in the world which allows you to - - -.. The language inventor describes it as the ultimate programming language -.. with features which make it perfect for just about any problem. - -.. container:: standout - - Why yet another programming language? - ------------------------------------- - - Nim is one of the very few *programmable* statically typed languages, and - one of the even fewer that produces native binaries that require no - runtime or interpreter. - - -.. container:: standout - - What have been the major influences in the language's design? - ------------------------------------------------------------- - - The language borrows heavily from (in order of impact): Modula 3, Delphi, Ada, - C++, Python, Lisp, Oberon. - - -.. container:: standout - - What is Nim's take on concurrency? - ---------------------------------- - - Nim primarily focusses on thread local (and garbage collected) heaps and - message passing between threads. Each thread has its own GC, so no - "stop the world" mechanism is necessary. An unsafe shared memory heap is also - provided. - - Future versions will additionally include a GC "per thread group" - and Nim's type system will be enhanced to accurately model this shared - memory heap. - - -.. container:: standout - - How is Nim licensed? - -------------------- - - The Nim compiler and the library are MIT licensed. - This means that you can use any license for your own programs developed with - Nim. - - -.. container:: standout - - How stable is Nim? - ------------------ - - The compiler is in development and some important features are still missing. - However, the compiler is quite stable already: It is able to compile itself - and a substantial body of other code. Until version 1.0.0 is released, - minor incompatibilities with older versions of the compiler will be introduced. - - -.. container:: standout - - How fast is Nim? - ---------------- - Benchmarks show it to be comparable to C. Some language features (methods, - closures, message passing) are not yet as optimized as they could and will be. - The only overhead Nim has over C is the GC which has been tuned - for years but still needs some work. - - -.. container:: standout - - What about JVM/CLR backends? - ---------------------------- - - JVM/CLR support is not in the nearest plans. However, since these VMs support FFI to C - it should be possible to create native Nim bridges, that transparenlty generate all the - glue code thanks to powerful metaprogramming capabilities of Nim. - - -.. container:: standout - - What about editor support? - -------------------------- - - - Native Nim Editor: https://github.com/nim-lang/Aporia - - Visual Studio Code: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=kosz78.nim - - Emacs: https://github.com/nim-lang/nim-mode - - Vim: https://github.com/zah/nimrod.vim/ - - Scite: Included - - Gedit: The `Aporia .lang file <https://github.com/nim-lang/Aporia/blob/master/share/gtksourceview-2.0/language-specs/nim.lang>`_ - - jEdit: https://github.com/exhu/nimrod-misc/tree/master/jedit - - TextMate: Available in bundle installer (`Repository <https://github.com/textmate/nim.tmbundle>`_) - - Sublime Text: Available via Package Control (`Repository <https://github.com/Varriount/NimLime>`_) - - LiClipse: http://www.liclipse.com/ (Eclipse based plugin) - - Howl: Included - - Notepad++: Available via `plugin <https://github.com/jangko/nppnim/releases>`_ - - -.. container:: standout - - Why is it named ``proc``? - ------------------------- - - *Procedure* used to be the common term as opposed to a *function* which is a - mathematical entity that has no side effects. It is planned to have ``func`` - as syntactic sugar for ``proc {.noSideEffect.}`` and ``func`` is already a - keyword. Naming it ``def`` would not make sense because Nim also provides a - ``iterator`` and ``method`` keywords, whereas ``def`` stands for ``define``. - - -Compilation FAQ -=============== - -.. container:: standout - - Which option to use for the fastest executable? - ----------------------------------------------- - - For the standard configuration file, ``-d:release`` does the trick. - -.. container:: standout - - Which option to use for the smallest executable? - ------------------------------------------------ - - For the standard configuration file, ``-d:quick --opt:size`` does the trick. - -.. container:: standout - - How do I use a different C compiler than the default one? - --------------------------------------------------------- - - Edit the ``config/nim.cfg`` file. - Change the value of the ``cc`` variable to one of the following: - - ================ ============================================ - **Abbreviation** **C/C++ Compiler** - ================ ============================================ - ``vcc`` Microsoft's Visual C++ - ``gcc`` Gnu C - ``llvm_gcc`` LLVM-GCC compiler - ``icc`` Intel C++ compiler - ``clang`` Clang compiler - ``ucc`` Generic UNIX C compiler - ================ ============================================ - - Other C compilers are not officially supported, but might work too. - - If your C compiler is not in the above list, try using the - *generic UNIX C compiler* (``ucc``). If the C compiler needs - different command line arguments try the ``--passc`` and ``--passl`` switches. |