Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures

From	David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
Newsgroups	comp.compilers
Subject	Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures
Date	2021-10-05 19:59 +0200
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<21-10-008@comp.compilers> (permalink)
References	<21-10-007@comp.compilers>

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On 05/10/2021 14:22, Luke A. Guest wrote:
> I have a Z80 project in mind and would like to build a compiler for a
> Z80.  I was wondering if modern backend techniques can be applied
> successfully for these old CPU's, i.e. SSA.
>
> I know GCC has backends for some older architectures, but these do weird
> gymnastics such as implementing a virtual cpu in rtl and then lowering
> further.
>

Certainly modern techniques /can/ be applied to a Z80 compiler.  And the
Z80 is a lot more powerful than many 8-bit CISC microcontrollers.

As far as I know, the only 8-bit target for gcc (in the mainline at
least) is the AVR.  This is a RISC processor, with 32 8-bit registers,
and a much more orthogonal architecture.  gcc does do some "weird
gymnastics", however - it allocates registers in pairs so that it can
pretend to be 16-bit, and then code gets simplified in peephole passes.

gcc also supports some 16-bit CISC devices.

For the Z80, however, there are a number of compiler options.  There are
some commercial toolchains, such as HiSoft (IIRC), and there is the
"Rabbit" microcontroller which is a derivative of the Z80.  It is
supported by a compiler for a somewhat extended version of C.  Such
compilers are probably quite old, however, and might not be easily
available.

Your best bet is probably SDCC.  This is a multi-target open source
compiler that is in regular development, and aimed specifically for
small CISC microcontroller cores.  The Z80 is one of its targets.

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Thread

Modern compilers for ye olde architectures "Luke A. Guest" <laguest@archeia.com> - 2021-10-05 13:22 +0100
  Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2021-10-05 19:59 +0200
  Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Hans-Peter Diettrich <DrDiettrich1@netscape.net> - 2021-10-05 22:12 +0200
  Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Derek Jones <derek@NOSPAM-knosof.co.uk> - 2021-10-06 01:26 +0100
    Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures "Luke A. Guest" <laguest@archeia.com> - 2021-10-06 09:00 +0100
  Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2021-10-06 07:56 +0000
    Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2021-10-06 18:20 +0200
      Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2021-10-15 07:37 +0000
        Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2021-10-18 08:35 +0200
        Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2021-10-18 08:56 +0200
        Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2021-10-18 09:17 +0200
          Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures gah4 <gah4@u.washington.edu> - 2021-10-21 21:53 -0700
            Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Kaz Kylheku <480-992-1380@kylheku.com> - 2021-10-22 17:28 +0000
    Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures dave_thompson_2@comcast.net - 2021-11-14 15:04 -0500
  Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> - 2021-10-06 10:36 +0100
    Re: Modern compilers for ye olde architectures "Luke A. Guest" <laguest@archeia.com> - 2021-10-06 16:20 +0100

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