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+The collector uses a large amount of conditional compilation in order to
+deal with platform dependencies. This violates a number of known coding
+standards. On the other hand, it seems to be the only practical way to
+support this many platforms without excessive code duplication.
+
+A few guidelines have mostly been followed in order to keep this manageable:
+
+1) #if and #ifdef directives are properly indented whenever easily possible.
+All known C compilers allow whitespace between the "#" and the "if" to make
+this possible. ANSI C also allows white space before the "#", though we
+avoid that. It has the known disadvantages that it differs from the normal
+GNU conventions, and that it makes patches larger than otherwise necessary.
+In my opinion, it's still well worth it, for the same reason that we indent
+ordinary "if" statements.
+
+2) Whenever possible, tests are performed on the macros defined in gcconfig.h
+instead of directly testing patform-specific predefined macros. This makes it
+relatively easy to adapt to new compilers with a different set of predefined
+macros. Currently these macros generally identify platforms instead of
+features. In many cases, this is a mistake.
+
+3) The code currently avoids #elif, eventhough that would make it more
+readable. This was done since #elif would need to be understood by ALL
+compilers used to build the collector, and that hasn't always been the case.
+It makes sense to reconsider this decision at some point, since #elif has been
+standardized at least since 1989.
+
+Many of the tested configuration macros are at least somewhat defined in
+either include/private/gcconfig.h or in Makefile.direct. Here is an attempt
+at defining some of the remainder: (Thanks to Walter Bright for suggesting
+this. This is a work in progress)
+
+MACRO EXPLANATION
+----- -----------
+
+__DMC__ Always #define'd by the Digital Mars compiler. Expands
+ to the compiler version number in hex, i.e. 0x810 is
+ version 8.1b0
+
+_ENABLE_ARRAYNEW
+ #define'd by the Digital Mars C++ compiler when
+ operator new[] and delete[] are separately
+ overloadable. Used in gc_cpp.h.
+
+_MSC_VER Expands to the Visual C++ compiler version. Assumed to
+ not be defined for other compilers (at least if they behave
+ appreciably differently).
+
+_DLL Defined by Visual C++ if dynamic libraries are being built
+ or used. Used to test whether __declspec(dllimport) or
+ __declspec(dllexport) needs to be added to declarations
+ to support the case in which the collector is in a dll.
+
+GC_DLL User-settable macro that forces the effect of _DLL. Set
+ by gc.h if _DLL is defined and GC_NOT_DLL is undefined.
+ This is the macro that is tested internally to determine
+ whether the GC is in its own dynamic library. May need
+ to be set by clients before including gc.h. Note that
+ inside the GC implementation it indicates that the
+ collector is in its own dynamic library, should export
+ its symbols, etc. But in clients it indicates that the
+ GC resides in a different DLL, its entry points should
+ be referenced accordingly, and precautions may need to
+ be taken to properly deal with statically allocated
+ variables in the main program. Used only for MS Windows.
+
+GC_NOT_DLL User-settable macro that overrides _DLL, e.g. if dynamic
+ libraries are used, but the collector is in a static library.
+
+__STDC__ Assumed to be defined only by compilers that understand
+ prototypes and other C89 features. Its value is generally
+ not used, since we are fine with most nonconforming extensions.
+
+SUNOS5SIGS Solaris-like signal handling. This is probably misnamed,
+ since it really doesn't guarantee much more than Posix.
+ Currently set only for Solaris2.X, HPUX, and DRSNX. Should
+ probably be set for some other platforms.
+
+PCR Set if the collector is being built as part of the Xerox
+ Portable Common Runtime.
+
+SRC_M3 Set if the collector is being built as a replacement of the
+ one in the DEC/Compaq SRC Modula-3 runtime. I suspect this
+ was last used around 1994, and no doubt broke a long time ago.
+ It's there primarily incase someone wants to port to a similar
+ system.
+
+USE_COMPILER_TLS Assume the existence of __thread-style thread-local
+ storage. Set automatically for thread-local allocation with
+ the HP/UX vendor compiler. Usable with gcc on sufficiently
+ up-to-date ELF platforms.
+
+
+