Issue 250929.1: Highlight that DW_AT_language_version is just that
| Author: | Ron Brender |
|---|---|
| Champion: | Ron Brender |
| Date submitted: | 2025-09-29 |
| Date revised: | |
| Date closed: | 2025-10-13 |
| Type: | Clarification |
| Status: | Accepted |
| DWARF version: | 6 |
It was noted during discussion of Issue 250924.1: Add language codes for BEAM languages (Erlang, Elixir, Gleam) at the September 29, 2025 DWARF meeting that the compiler or other implementation version codes are sometimes confused with language definition codes.
The definition of attribute DW_AT_language_version is given
as bullet 4 in Section 3.1.1 Full and Partial Compilation
Unit Entries of recent DRAFT V6 documents, as in
A
DW_AT_language_versionattribute may be specified whose constant value is an integer value that indicates the version of the source language. This value is encoded using one of several schemes as shown in Table 3.2 on the following page. A value of zero is equivalent to omitting this attribute.
PROPOSAL
At the end of the first sentence quoted above, add the following footnote:
[1] The language version must not be confused with a compiler or other implementation-related version code associated with a language. The language version is specified by the individual, committee or other authority that develops and maintains the language definition as such (independent of any implementation).
2025-10-13: Accepted.
