OracleSolaris 11.2 -- toolchain to use

Question

There is two options - SunStudio or gcc toolchain. What is the common practice to adhere when developing a driver -- make sure it builds with both compilers for 32-bit and 64-bit modes, or pick one compiler and stick to it?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Until you can find someone who has used recent versions of the entire suite of tools available under both GCC with all its add-ons and Oracle's Studio toolset, you're not going to get a good answer. I'll say that I've yet to see an open-source tool that is as good as Oracle's Studio collect/analyzer tools at performance analysis of multithreaded large-scale applications, especially on Solaris. Most people who blindly post "GCC is better!" don't know the Oracle tools even exist.

Regarding device drivers, jlliagre's comment is quite relevant - it's quite possible to run into situations where a "native" compiler will work where a "foreign" one won't.

(Posting as an answer for emphasis)

Answer 2

There is no point building a 32 bit driver when you target Solaris 11.2 as this kernel is only released as 64 bit.

Both Solaris Studio and gcc can be used. The former is likely more popular for everything kernel related and you'll probably find more documentation about using it than gcc.