petersen@uicsrd.csrd.uiuc.edu (05/26/88)
Does anyone want a GOOD FREE C compiler ?????
I decided when I bought my amiga that I wanted to get a C compiler
so I started shopping around and found that the compilers cost around
half of what I paid for my computer (well pretty close, my wife though so).
So I then started looking at the PD software and found PDC. This compiler
has a very solid recursive decent parser, reasonable optimization, and
fairly clean source code so I decided to see if I could build upon it.
Soon afterwards I started discovering many!! things that were bugs,
errors, and constructs that did not conform to K&R. Thus started the
transformation. The current compiler (1.0 very alpha) can do all sorts
of wonderful things such as compile itself, compile the assembler A68k,
compile the C preprocessor, DECUS cpp, compile a object librarian Alib,
compile the dhrystone benchmark, grok floating point (needs a lot of help),
and it also has a complete stdio library, and the start of the math
library (whew!!!). As part of my endevors I dusted off some old
unix-lookalike programs I had written and collected, and compiled them
with PDC (cal, cat, diff, egrep, head, od, sum, tail, tee, tr, uniq, wc, ...).
Now as you could tell by now, I did not write all of these programs that
I've just mentioned, many people on USENET and other places have written
most of these programs that I've used to torture test the compiler. Some
times the compiler won and sometimes I'd have another long debug session.
Back to our main program, currently the system is configured as a
cross-development environment for SUN workstations (I love computers that
don't crash and burn when a program goes crazy). I have written a filter
that will mung most Metacomco Assembler syntax into the stuff that the the
SUN assembler will grok. This means that I have used the compiler as a
replacement for the sun compiler and it works and the code generated is
generally comparable. So if someone wants a start at a C cross-development
environment or wants to help with the amiga port, or contribute library
routines I all ears. As a start to this I'm putting the current source
code (all 1.3 meg, or 524k compressed) up for anonymous FTP.
WARNING: If you are not desparate or people do not refer to you as a wizard,
or guru then you might want to wait for the next release.
The file name is /pub/amiga/CrossDev.tar.Z and will ONLY be available by
anonymous FTP this time. DO NOT ASK FOR ME TO MAIL IT!!!!!!
192.5.69.1 a.cs.uiuc.edu
If you find any problems with the code
1) Fix the problem your self and mail me the patch.
2) Or else, Send me the smallest code fragment that causes the problem
and I'll either fix the problem or add it to the BUGS list.
3) Or, Just sit on it and don't tell me, and by telepathy I might discover
and fix the problem myself (not recomended).
[ As a warning I'm going on vacation for a few weeks at the end of may,
so If I don't respond quickly it does not mean that I've passed away. ]
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University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Center for Supercomputing Research and Development
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