Re: [Tinycc-devel] Speed of development of a compiler.

[Basile Starynkevitch]

On 11/24/2015 09:13 PM, AlexandreFressange wrote:
> Thanks a lot Basile,
>
> this is exactly the kind of answer I was expecting: digging around the problem, 
> showing it with much intelligence and proposing multiple ways to solve it.
>
> Now, I am about to finish my OS that will not be open source (no need, not a 
> community project), I was working on some performance optimizations for memory 
> management. I have been coding for 15 years now, but my initial formation is 
> unrelated with CS. This OS is for very specific purposes that are currently 
> being developed for a startup (I won't say much more right now, right here, but 
> will happily do in a few time). The language resembles python but is even 
> simpler (but has pointers; we always need them :) ),follows no ISO, steals good 
> ideas on C( atomics and so on), communicate liberally with the OS; I've 
> rewritten the musl library to fit the OS needs.

I am blindly guessing you are in some embedded computing or Internet of 
Things case. These are very fancy for hidden startups.
> I am used to gas and nasm for x86 assembly coding.
>
> I guess you are right, I should create a github for it and its compiler.
>
> Why I need that: there will be a need to update the code in environment without 
> internet, and llvm/gcc are too heavyweight. More, simpler language can lead to 
> fewer bugs.
> And to say the least, I don't want to be dependent on C++. It narrows the 
> choice much.
>
> I seriously considered the need for a new compiler, when others are existing. 
> But on the other hand, I am curious to see if I can create a lightweight 
> alternative that would only fit my os (on those archs) and language.
The main question is : do you need native compilation (on some *small* 
computer system) or not? And what is the target processor (at least, 
instruction set)? Is it cross-compilation or straight native compilation.

If you can afford cross-compiling e.g. on Linux, use either GCCJIT or LLVM.

If you need *native* compilation on a very cheap software (think of 
generating  code on cheaper than 1€
tiny ARM with 32kbytes of RAM - or on Arduino) things are *very* 
different. Then  you won't be able to optimize much. Use in that case 
cheap JIT technology (inspired by libjit). Don't expect miracles.

BTW, I still don't understand why your OS is proprietary, and I guess 
that it is because you are targeting extremely cheap hardware. (You did 
not mention anything about your hardware and system).
Then, I don't see why you want some native compiler.

I you can afford cross-compiling, generating C or GCCJIT or LLVM is very 
easy.

Regards.

--
Basile STARYNKEVITCH         http://starynkevitch.net/Basile/
email: basile<at>starynkevitch<dot>net mobile: +33 6 8501 2359
8, rue de la Faiencerie, 92340 Bourg La Reine, France
*** opinions {are only mine, sont seulement les miennes} ***