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+See ../README.
+
+The frontend is written in C++.
+
+The frontend lexes and parses the input into an IR specific to this
+frontend known as gogo.  It then runs a series of passes over the
+code.
+
+Finally it converts gogo to gcc's GENERIC.  A goal is to move the gcc
+support code into a gcc-interface subdirectory.  The gcc code will be
+put under the GPL.  The rest of the frontend will not include any gcc
+header files.
+
+Issues to be faced in this transition:
+
+* Representation of source locations.
+  + Currently the frontend uses gcc's source_location codes, using the
+    interface in libcpp/line-map.h.
+
+* Handling of error messages.
+  + Currently the frontend uses gcc's error_at and warning_at
+    functions.
+  + Currently the frontend uses gcc's diagnostic formatter, using
+    features such as %<%> for appropriate quoting.
+  + Localization may be an issue.
+
+* Use of gcc_assert and gcc_unreachable.
+
+This compiler works, but the code is a work in progress.  Notably, the
+support for garbage collection is ineffective and needs a complete
+rethinking.  The frontend pays little attention to its memory usage
+and rarely frees any memory.  The code could use a general cleanup
+which we have not had time to do.
+
+Contributing
+=============
+
+To contribute patches to the files in this directory, please see
+http://golang.org/doc/gccgo_contribute.html .
+
+Changes to these files require a copyright assignment to Google.  This
+is required to permit the changes to be copied to the gcc repository,
+as Google has a copyright assignment with the Free Software
+Foundation.
+
+If you are the copyright holder, you will need to agree to the
+individual contributor license agreement at
+http://code.google.com/legal/individual-cla-v1.0.html.  This agreement
+can be completed online.
+
+If your organization is the copyright holder, the organization will
+need to agree to the corporate contributor license agreement at
+http://code.google.com/legal/corporate-cla-v1.0.html.
+
+If the copyright holder for your code has already completed the
+agreement in connection with another Google open source project, it
+does not need to be completed again.