[comp.lang.c] why arent there any c-interpreter ?

admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) (12/03/90)

hey everybody,
i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...

so, any suggestions why there are none ?

arnd merlevede

-- 
 reply to : admerlev@faui43.informatik.uni-erlangen.de

edgincd2@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Chris) (12/03/90)

If you get the book "Born to Code in C" by Herbert Schildt [I think], you
will see the complete source code for a C language interpreter.

Chris Edgington

dac@ukc.ac.uk (David Clear) (12/03/90)

In article <3303@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) writes:
>i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
>it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...

HiSoft in the UK do a C interpreter for the Atari ST. That proves they exist.

I think interpreting C is as close to blasphemy as you can get with a
programming language.

Dave.

newberry@nmsu.edu (Jeff Newberry) (12/04/90)

We have a C programming environment called Saber-C.  It is a C
debugger, C interpreter, etc.  It is a great tool to have.  Check it
out if you are interested.  It runs on our Sun Workstations.

Saber Software, Inc.
185 Alewife Brook Parkway
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-876-7636
Fax 617-547-9011

Jeff Newberry
newberry@nmsu.edu

meissner@osf.org (Michael Meissner) (12/04/90)

In article <3303@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) writes:

| Path: paperboy!hsdndev!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!ira.uka.de!fauern!fauern!admerlev
| From: admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede )
| Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.sys.amiga
| Keywords: c interpreter
| Date: 3 Dec 90 04:00:55 GMT
| Organization: CSD, University of Erlangen, W-Germany
| Lines: 10
| Xref: paperboy comp.lang.c:19144 comp.sys.amiga:45782
| 
| hey everybody,
| i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
| it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...
| 
| so, any suggestions why there are none ?

I dunno, Saber-C is certainly a C interpreter.  It is a real neat
product, particularly the X windows version.  You can contact them at:

	Saber Software, Inc.
	185 Alewife Brook Parkway
	Cambridge, MA 02138
	617-876-7636

At present they support, Sun3, Sun4, Sun 386i, VAXen, DECstations, and
I think they said soon Data General AViiON.  They also have a C++
interpreter.
--
Michael Meissner	email: meissner@osf.org		phone: 617-621-8861
Open Software Foundation, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA, 02142

Considering the flames and intolerance, shouldn't USENET be spelled ABUSENET?

henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (12/05/90)

In article <3303@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) writes:
>i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
>it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...

There are several C interpreters.  Mostly, they are commercial products
with substantial price tags.
-- 
"The average pointer, statistically,    |Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
points somewhere in X." -Hugh Redelmeier| henry@zoo.toronto.edu   utzoo!henry

salomon@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Dan Salomon) (12/05/90)

In article <6396@harrier.ukc.ac.uk> dac@ukc.ac.uk (David Clear) writes:
>In article <3303@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) writes:
>>i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
>>it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...
>
>HiSoft in the UK do a C interpreter for the Atari ST. That proves they exist.
>
>I think interpreting C is as close to blasphemy as you can get with a
>programming language.

Don't get too overheated.  Afterall the C-shell command language is
interpreted, and it is advertised as a more C-like command language
than the Bourne shell.
-- 

Dan Salomon -- salomon@ccu.UManitoba.CA
               Dept. of Computer Science / University of Manitoba
	       Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  R3T 2N2 / (204) 275-6682

mikes@ingres.com (Mike Schilling) (12/10/90)

In article <3303@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) writes:
>i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
>it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...

Saber C is an interpretive environment for debugging C programs.  I've seen
an evaluation copy running on Sun-4s under X.  It allows
some of the application you're testing to be linked in as object code, while
the rest is run interpretively.  It's very thorough in testing for invalid
references to heap storage, array boundary checking, etc.  I found it
very impressive.  (I have no connection with the vendor.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
mikes@rtech.com = Mike Schilling, ASK Corporation, Alameda, CA
Just machines that make big decisions,
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision.	-- Donald Fagen, "IGY"

david@twg.com (David S. Herron) (12/11/90)

In article <6396@harrier.ukc.ac.uk> dac@ukc.ac.uk (David Clear) writes:
>In article <3303@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de> admerlev@medusa.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Arnd Merlevede ) writes:
>>i would like to know why there aren't any c-interprters out there.
>>it would be nice to test small pieces of code interactively...
>
>HiSoft in the UK do a C interpreter for the Atari ST. That proves they exist.

There is also Saber-C which runs on a few Unix (4.3BSD) platforms
and is an *extremely* nice debugging environment.  It includes a
gee-whizzy-wig graphical interface that shows code as you're tracing
through it, draws pictures of the data structures being used, draws
pictures of cross-references between procedures, and has a "compiler"
that is both pickier than lint and is smarter than lint since it doesn't
complain about silly things like lint will do.

>I think interpreting C is as close to blasphemy as you can get with a
>programming language.

No, my son, thou doesn't comprehend ... many times one comes to solutions
by adding another level of indirection.  (<-- recursive operation)  In the
case of Saber C that level gives you run time checking of lots of things
which are hard/impossible with `C' like

	array bounds checking
	blowing away information malloc() uses internally for memory allocation
	using variables before being set
	parameter checking (I know.. this is an ANSI C feature, but I don't
		have any ANSI C compilers available to me besides GNU-CC)

	etc..

>Dave.

	David

-- 
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