Self-compiling C code - cc500

[garethfoote]

Hi there,

I am making a very simple piece of software in C for my final major project for a cultural studies MA. I am exploring software culture and software development methodologies.

The software itself needs to be very simple and to be able to self compile. Because I have little knowledge of C to date, I have choosen the smallest and simplest (non-obfuscated) C compiler I could find.

Details of cc500 plus source code are available here:
CC500: a tiny self-hosting C compiler

There are very simple instructions in order to compile and self-compile the code. They are as follows:

Compilation:

gcc cc500.c -o cc500_1

Self-compilation:

./cc500_1 < cc500.c > cc500_2
chmod +x cc500_2

This process works fine but the next step I need to perform is to use cc500_2 to then compile a very simple application that I have created.

I have looked into the cc500.c code and it seems that the only supported functions are:

void exit(int);
int getchar(void);
void *malloc(int);
int putchar(int);

Therefore I have tried to compile the following application using cc500_2:

#include <stdio.h>

main(){
       int c;
       while((c = getchar() != EOF)
               putchar(c);
}

I have not been successful with this. A zero KB files is generated. I tried using the gcc to compile the same application and it works ok so I assume the logic is acceptable.
I have also tried removing the #include <stdio.h> line because I'm not sure if this is relevant with the tc500 compiler.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Gareth

[Epy]

instead of "main()", try "int main(void)", and add "return 0;" after putchar

[Epy]

Also, "while((c = getchar() != EOF)" (extra parenthesis)

[Salem]

Read the page:

"There is no preprocessor."

So remove the #include statement.

[grumpy]

EOF is also a macro from <stdio.h>, so you can't use it.

[Epy]

You'd be better off to use a more powerful and more well known "small" compiler: TCC : Tiny C Compiler

[garethfoote]

I think I used every all of the advice given in this thread and have managed to get a very simple script to compile. However, when executed it is not performing as I was expecting. I think I am very restricted in what I can do using this extra small compiler. I will look into TCC.

Many thanks,
Gareth