===================================================================
@@ -1767,17 +1767,15 @@ releases.
@opindex fgnu89-inline
The option @option{-fgnu89-inline} tells GCC to use the traditional
GNU semantics for @code{inline} functions when in C99 mode.
-@xref{Inline,,An Inline Function is As Fast As a Macro}. This option
-is accepted and ignored by GCC versions 4.1.3 up to but not including
-4.3. In GCC versions 4.3 and later it changes the behavior of GCC in
-C99 mode. Using this option is roughly equivalent to adding the
+@xref{Inline,,An Inline Function is As Fast As a Macro}.
+Using this option is roughly equivalent to adding the
@code{gnu_inline} function attribute to all inline functions
(@pxref{Function Attributes}).
The option @option{-fno-gnu89-inline} explicitly tells GCC to use the
C99 semantics for @code{inline} when in C99 or gnu99 mode (i.e., it
-specifies the default behavior). This option was first supported in
-GCC 4.3. This option is not supported in @option{-std=c90} or
+specifies the default behavior).
+This option is not supported in @option{-std=c90} or
@option{-std=gnu90} mode.
The preprocessor macros @code{__GNUC_GNU_INLINE__} and
@@ -2112,7 +2110,7 @@ See also @option{-Wabi}.
@item -fabi-compat-version=@var{n}
@opindex fabi-compat-version
-Starting with GCC 4.5, on targets that support strong aliases, G++
+On targets that support strong aliases, G++
works around mangling changes by creating an alias with the correct
mangled name when defining a symbol with an incorrect mangled name.
This switch specifies which ABI version to use for the alias.
@@ -2173,11 +2171,10 @@ deprecated, and may be removed in a futu
Inject friend functions into the enclosing namespace, so that they are
visible outside the scope of the class in which they are declared.
Friend functions were documented to work this way in the old Annotated
-C++ Reference Manual, and versions of G++ before 4.1 always worked
-that way. However, in ISO C++ a friend function that is not declared
+C++ Reference Manual.
+However, in ISO C++ a friend function that is not declared
in an enclosing scope can only be found using argument dependent
-lookup. This option causes friends to be injected as they were in
-earlier releases.
+lookup. GCC defaults to the standard behavior.
This option is for compatibility, and may be removed in a future
release of G++.
@@ -4536,8 +4533,7 @@ except when the same as the default prom
@opindex Wno-declaration-after-statement
Warn when a declaration is found after a statement in a block. This
construct, known from C++, was introduced with ISO C99 and is by default
-allowed in GCC@. It is not supported by ISO C90 and was not supported by
-GCC versions before GCC 3.0. @xref{Mixed Declarations}.
+allowed in GCC@. It is not supported by ISO C90. @xref{Mixed Declarations}.
@item -Wundef
@opindex Wundef
@@ -7455,11 +7451,10 @@ machine-description macro @code{FRAME_PO
whether a target machine supports this flag. @xref{Registers,,Register
Usage, gccint, GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) Internals}.
-Starting with GCC version 4.6, the default setting (when not optimizing for
-size) for 32-bit GNU/Linux x86 and 32-bit Darwin x86 targets has been changed to
-@option{-fomit-frame-pointer}. The default can be reverted to
-@option{-fno-omit-frame-pointer} by configuring GCC with the
-@option{--enable-frame-pointer} configure option.
+The default setting (when not optimizing for
+size) for 32-bit GNU/Linux x86 and 32-bit Darwin x86 targets is
+@option{-fomit-frame-pointer}. You can configure GCC with the
+@option{--enable-frame-pointer} configure option to change the default.
Enabled at levels @option{-O}, @option{-O2}, @option{-O3}, @option{-Os}.
@@ -8681,8 +8676,7 @@ from other functions. It is a more limi
@option{-ftree-coalesce-vars}. This may harm debug information of such
inlined variables, but it keeps variables of the inlined-into
function apart from each other, such that they are more likely to
-contain the expected values in a debugging session. This was the
-default in GCC versions older than 4.7.
+contain the expected values in a debugging session.
@item -ftree-coalesce-vars
@opindex ftree-coalesce-vars
@@ -23638,9 +23632,7 @@ available to be linked against from outs
@samp{protected} and @samp{internal} are pretty useless in real-world
usage so the only other commonly used option is @samp{hidden}.
The default if @option{-fvisibility} isn't specified is
-@samp{default}, i.e., make every
-symbol public---this causes the same behavior as previous versions of
-GCC@.
+@samp{default}, i.e., make every symbol public.
A good explanation of the benefits offered by ensuring ELF
symbols have the correct visibility is given by ``How To Write
===================================================================
@@ -786,26 +786,6 @@ evaluated only once when using @code{__a
@code{typeof} is used.
@end itemize
-@emph{Compatibility Note:} In addition to @code{typeof}, GCC 2 supported
-a more limited extension that permitted one to write
-
-@smallexample
-typedef @var{T} = @var{expr};
-@end smallexample
-
-@noindent
-with the effect of declaring @var{T} to have the type of the expression
-@var{expr}. This extension does not work with GCC 3 (versions between
-3.0 and 3.2 crash; 3.2.1 and later give an error). Code that
-relies on it should be rewritten to use @code{typeof}:
-
-@smallexample
-typedef typeof(@var{expr}) @var{T};
-@end smallexample
-
-@noindent
-This works with all versions of GCC@.
-
@node Conditionals
@section Conditionals with Omitted Operands
@cindex conditional expressions, extensions
@@ -1498,16 +1478,13 @@ structure or an element of an array. (H
permitted by GCC as extensions.)
@end itemize
-GCC versions before 3.0 allowed zero-length arrays to be statically
-initialized, as if they were flexible arrays. In addition to those
-cases that were useful, it also allowed initializations in situations
-that would corrupt later data. Non-empty initialization of zero-length
-arrays is now treated like any case where there are more initializer
+Non-empty initialization of zero-length
+arrays is treated like any case where there are more initializer
elements than the array holds, in that a suitable warning about ``excess
elements in array'' is given, and the excess elements (all of them, in
this case) are ignored.
-Instead GCC allows static initialization of flexible array members.
+GCC allows static initialization of flexible array members.
This is equivalent to defining a new structure containing the original
structure followed by an array of sufficient size to contain the data.
E.g.@: in the following, @code{f1} is constructed as if it were declared
@@ -1729,9 +1706,10 @@ argument, these arguments are not macro
@cindex escaped newlines
@cindex newlines (escaped)
-Recently, the preprocessor has relaxed its treatment of escaped
-newlines. Previously, the newline had to immediately follow a
-backslash. The current implementation allows whitespace in the form
+The preprocessor treatment of escaped newlines is more relaxed
+than that specified by the C90 standard, which requires the newline
+to immediately follow a backslash.
+GCC's implementation allows whitespace in the form
of spaces, horizontal and vertical tabs, and form feeds between the
backslash and the subsequent newline. The preprocessor issues a
warning, but treats it as a valid escaped newline and combines the two
@@ -1905,12 +1883,12 @@ In C, a compound literal designates an u
automatic storage duration. In C++, a compound literal designates a
temporary object, which only lives until the end of its
full-expression. As a result, well-defined C code that takes the
-address of a subobject of a compound literal can be undefined in C++.
+address of a subobject of a compound literal can be undefined in C++,
+so the C++ compiler rejects the conversion of a temporary array to a pointer.
For instance, if the array compound literal example above appeared
inside a function, any subsequent use of @samp{foo} in C++ has
undefined behavior because the lifetime of the array ends after the
-declaration of @samp{foo}. As a result, the C++ compiler now rejects
-the conversion of a temporary array to a pointer.
+declaration of @samp{foo}.
As an optimization, the C++ compiler sometimes gives array compound
literals longer lifetimes: when the array either appears outside a
@@ -2447,21 +2425,6 @@ function that calls a non-@code{const} f
@code{const}. It does not make sense for a @code{const} function to
return @code{void}.
-The attribute @code{const} is not implemented in GCC versions earlier
-than 2.5. An alternative way to declare that a function has no side
-effects, which works in the current version and in some older versions,
-is as follows:
-
-@smallexample
-typedef int intfn ();
-
-extern const intfn square;
-@end smallexample
-
-@noindent
-This approach does not work in GNU C++ from 2.6.0 on, since the language
-specifies that the @samp{const} must be attached to the return value.
-
@item constructor
@itemx destructor
@itemx constructor (@var{priority})
@@ -2536,14 +2499,13 @@ On systems that support the @code{visibi
attribute also implies ``default'' visibility. It is an error to
explicitly specify any other visibility.
-In previous versions of GCC, the @code{dllexport} attribute was ignored
-for inlined functions, unless the @option{-fkeep-inline-functions} flag
-had been used. The default behavior now is to emit all dllexported
-inline functions; however, this can cause object file-size bloat, in
-which case the old behavior can be restored by using
-@option{-fno-keep-inline-dllexport}.
+GCC's default behavior is to emit all inline functions with the
+@code{dllexport} attribute. Since this can cause object file-size bloat,
+you can use @option{-fno-keep-inline-dllexport}, which tells GCC to
+ignore the attribute for inlined functions unless the
+@option{-fkeep-inline-functions} flag is used instead.
-The attribute is also ignored for undefined symbols.
+The attribute is ignored for undefined symbols.
When applied to C++ classes, the attribute marks defined non-inlined
member functions and static data members as exports. Static consts
@@ -2595,8 +2557,7 @@ the current translation unit.
For Microsoft Windows targets the use of the @code{dllimport}
attribute on functions is not necessary, but provides a small
performance benefit by eliminating a thunk in the DLL@. The use of the
-@code{dllimport} attribute on imported variables was required on older
-versions of the GNU linker, but can now be avoided by passing the
+@code{dllimport} attribute on imported variables can be avoided by passing the
@option{--enable-auto-import} switch to the GNU linker. As with
functions, using the attribute for a variable eliminates a thunk in
the DLL@.
@@ -2931,8 +2892,8 @@ void *memcpy (void *, const void *, size
__attribute__ ((ifunc ("resolve_memcpy")));
@end smallexample
-Indirect functions cannot be weak, and require a recent binutils (at
-least version 2.20.1), and GNU C library (at least version 2.11.1).
+Indirect functions cannot be weak. Binutils version 2.20.1 or higher
+and GNU C Library version 2.11.1 are required to use this feature.
@item interrupt
@cindex interrupt handler functions
@@ -3573,28 +3534,13 @@ restored before calling the @code{noretu
It does not make sense for a @code{noreturn} function to have a return
type other than @code{void}.
-The attribute @code{noreturn} is not implemented in GCC versions
-earlier than 2.5. An alternative way to declare that a function does
-not return, which works in the current version and in some older
-versions, is as follows:
-
-@smallexample
-typedef void voidfn ();
-
-volatile voidfn fatal;
-@end smallexample
-
-@noindent
-This approach does not work in GNU C++.
-
@item nothrow
@cindex @code{nothrow} function attribute
The @code{nothrow} attribute is used to inform the compiler that a
function cannot throw an exception. For example, most functions in
the standard C library can be guaranteed not to throw an exception
with the notable exceptions of @code{qsort} and @code{bsearch} that
-take function pointer arguments. The @code{nothrow} attribute is not
-implemented in GCC versions earlier than 3.3.
+take function pointer arguments.
@item nosave_low_regs
@cindex @code{nosave_low_regs} attribute
@@ -3692,9 +3638,6 @@ Interesting non-pure functions are funct
depending on volatile memory or other system resource, that may change between
two consecutive calls (such as @code{feof} in a multithreading environment).
-The attribute @code{pure} is not implemented in GCC versions earlier
-than 2.96.
-
@item hot
@cindex @code{hot} function attribute
The @code{hot} attribute on a function is used to inform the compiler that
@@ -3706,9 +3649,6 @@ improving locality.
When profile feedback is available, via @option{-fprofile-use}, hot functions
are automatically detected and this attribute is ignored.
-The @code{hot} attribute on functions is not implemented in GCC versions
-earlier than 4.3.
-
@item cold
@cindex @code{cold} function attribute
The @code{cold} attribute on functions is used to inform the compiler that
@@ -3724,9 +3664,6 @@ of hot functions that do call marked fun
When profile feedback is available, via @option{-fprofile-use}, cold functions
are automatically detected and this attribute is ignored.
-The @code{cold} attribute on functions is not implemented in GCC versions
-earlier than 4.3.
-
@item no_sanitize_address
@itemx no_address_safety_analysis
@cindex @code{no_sanitize_address} function attribute
@@ -4660,9 +4597,6 @@ the path following the label is more lik
annotated. This attribute is used in cases where @code{__builtin_expect}
cannot be used, for instance with computed goto or @code{asm goto}.
-The @code{hot} attribute on labels is not implemented in GCC versions
-earlier than 4.8.
-
@item cold
@cindex @code{cold} label attribute
The @code{cold} attribute on labels is used to inform the compiler that
@@ -4670,9 +4604,6 @@ the path following the label is unlikely
is used in cases where @code{__builtin_expect} cannot be used, for instance
with computed goto or @code{asm goto}.
-The @code{cold} attribute on labels is not implemented in GCC versions
-earlier than 4.8.
-
@end table
@node Attribute Syntax
@@ -5985,7 +5916,7 @@ main (void)
If you replaced @code{short_a} with @code{short} in the variable
declaration, the above program would abort when compiled with
@option{-fstrict-aliasing}, which is on by default at @option{-O2} or
-above in recent GCC versions.
+above.
@item visibility
In C++, attribute visibility (@pxref{Function Attributes}) can also be
@@ -7845,21 +7776,8 @@ static const char __func__[] = "function
appeared, where function-name is the name of the lexically-enclosing
function. This name is the unadorned name of the function.
-@code{__FUNCTION__} is another name for @code{__func__}. Older
-versions of GCC recognize only this name. However, it is not
-standardized. For maximum portability, we recommend you use
-@code{__func__}, but provide a fallback definition with the
-preprocessor:
-
-@smallexample
-#if __STDC_VERSION__ < 199901L
-# if __GNUC__ >= 2
-# define __func__ __FUNCTION__
-# else
-# define __func__ "<unknown>"
-# endif
-#endif
-@end smallexample
+@code{__FUNCTION__} is another name for @code{__func__}, provided for
+backward compatibility with old versions of GCC.
In C, @code{__PRETTY_FUNCTION__} is yet another name for
@code{__func__}. However, in C++, @code{__PRETTY_FUNCTION__} contains
@@ -7897,13 +7815,9 @@ __FUNCTION__ = sub
__PRETTY_FUNCTION__ = void a::sub(int)
@end smallexample
-These identifiers are not preprocessor macros. In GCC 3.3 and
-earlier, in C only, @code{__FUNCTION__} and @code{__PRETTY_FUNCTION__}
-were treated as string literals; they could be used to initialize
-@code{char} arrays, and they could be concatenated with other string
-literals. GCC 3.4 and later treat them as variables, like
-@code{__func__}. In C++, @code{__FUNCTION__} and
-@code{__PRETTY_FUNCTION__} have always been variables.
+These identifiers are variables, not preprocessor macros, and may not
+be used to initialize @code{char} arrays or be concatenated with other string
+literals.
@node Return Address
@section Getting the Return or Frame Address of a Function
@@ -9718,10 +9632,6 @@ not otherwise permitted in a static init
@code{0 && foo ()}). GCC must be more conservative about evaluating the
built-in in this case, because it has no opportunity to perform
optimization.
-
-Previous versions of GCC did not accept this built-in in data
-initializers. The earliest version where it is completely safe is
-3.0.1.
@end deftypefn
@deftypefn {Built-in Function} long __builtin_expect (long @var{exp}, long @var{c})
@@ -17894,9 +17804,6 @@ if @code{attribute((optimize("STRING")))
function. The parenthesis around the options is optional.
@xref{Function Attributes}, for more information about the
@code{optimize} attribute and the attribute syntax.
-
-The @samp{#pragma GCC optimize} pragma is not implemented in GCC
-versions earlier than 4.4.
@end table
@table @code
@@ -17910,9 +17817,6 @@ options. It is intended for include fil
to switch to using a different @samp{#pragma GCC target} or
@samp{#pragma GCC optimize} and then to pop back to the previous
options.
-
-The @samp{#pragma GCC push_options} and @samp{#pragma GCC pop_options}
-pragmas are not implemented in GCC versions earlier than 4.4.
@end table
@table @code
@@ -17922,9 +17826,6 @@ pragmas are not implemented in GCC versi
This pragma clears the current @code{#pragma GCC target} and
@code{#pragma GCC optimize} to use the default switches as specified
on the command line.
-
-The @samp{#pragma GCC reset_options} pragma is not implemented in GCC
-versions earlier than 4.4.
@end table
@node Loop-Specific Pragmas
@@ -18557,14 +18458,11 @@ user with a way of explicitly directing
with vague linkage (and debugging information) in a particular
translation unit.
-@emph{Note:} As of GCC 2.7.2, these @code{#pragma}s are not useful in
-most cases, because of COMDAT support and the ``key method'' heuristic
+@emph{Note:} These @code{#pragma}s have been superceded as of GCC 2.7.2
+by COMDAT support and the ``key method'' heuristic
mentioned in @ref{Vague Linkage}. Using them can actually cause your
program to grow due to unnecessary out-of-line copies of inline
-functions. Currently (3.4) the only benefit of these
-@code{#pragma}s is reduced duplication of debugging information, and
-that should be addressed soon on DWARF 2 targets with the use of
-COMDAT groups.
+functions.
@table @code
@item #pragma interface
@@ -18608,12 +18506,6 @@ file. For example, in @file{allclass.cc
@samp{#pragma implementation}
by itself is equivalent to @samp{#pragma implementation "allclass.h"}.
-In versions of GNU C++ prior to 2.6.0 @file{allclass.h} was treated as
-an implementation file whenever you would include it from
-@file{allclass.cc} even if you never specified @samp{#pragma
-implementation}. This was deemed to be more trouble than it was worth,
-however, and disabled.
-
Use the string argument if you want a single implementation file to
include code from multiple header files. (You must also use
@samp{#include} to include the header file; @samp{#pragma