[ Scripted Compiler :: Code generation ]
Nothing concrete here yet.
Discussions
AK: The runtime assembler/code-generator Lightning (written in C) is GPL, the concept however can be used to generate machine code from within Tcl, plus some bits to write ELF, COFF, etc. libraries the low-level backend would be done.
jcw: Too much machinery - I'd generate raw into a bytearray. Store it that way too. ELF is for linkers and other arcane concepts <wink>
AK: Do not forget pre-compiling of binaries. Even if the compiler is in an extension I do not want to deliver it with every application. Especially not wrapped applications..
jcw: Absolutely. Which is why I said: "store it that way too".
AK: Hm, sort of like tbcload, but machine code ? ... A mixture of bytecode and machine code might be of interest. A loader format containing binary data in a script language wrapper ... Oh, I just remember Oberon's Slim Binaries. These store a portable AST of the input (not bytecode) and use a simple compiler/mapper to machine code when loading. Lower-level than Tcl bytecodes, and are still as efficient as machine code, because in the end they are machine-code. I think I will start a new thread below to collect and merge the thoughts into something cohesive.
Softwire: http://softwire.sourceforge.net/ (LGPL)
[ Scripted Compiler :: Code generation ]