Is it possible....?

[Whyrusleeping]

So i was sitting in calculus today absent-mindedly not studying for the final when i thought of something. Is it possible to write and compile a program, that writes and compiles a program? (oooOOo inception)
something like:
[code]
open file;
file.write(insert program to be written here-ish);
save file "something.c";
compile "something.c";
//and maybe (this might be pushing it)
run "something";
[\code]

If this has already been done then i would love to see it.
Thanks

[laserlight]

Is it possible to write and compile a program, that writes and compiles a program?

Yes, since it is possible to write a program whose output is a program, and it is possible to write a compiler. It becomes a matter of connecting these two, e.g., modify a compiler to produce a program that it then compiles, or write the program source output to file and then invoke a compiler to accept that generated file as input.

[quzah]

Is it possible to write and compile a program, that writes and compiles a program?

Yes.

If this has already been done then i would love to see it.

I hear that you can search for things on the internet.


Quzah.

[iMalc]

Not only is that possible, but you can also write a program which when compiled and run, produces it's own source code as output, which can of course again be compiled and run to once again produce itself.
This is called a "Quine".

[CommonTater]

So i was sitting in calculus today absent-mindedly not studying for the final when i thought of something. Is it possible to write and compile a program, that writes and compiles a program? (oooOOo inception)
something like:
[code]
open file;
file.write(insert program to be written here-ish);
save file "something.c";
compile "something.c";
//and maybe (this might be pushing it)
run "something";
[\code]

If this has already been done then i would love to see it.
Thanks

Of course you can... it's called a compiler ...

[Whyrusleeping]

So i guess i should specify that i want the program to not just write the source code for another program, but compile and possibly run it. is this as simple as im thinking? like, could i call gcc from inside my program?

[CommonTater]

So i guess i should specify that i want the program to not just write the source code for another program, but compile and possibly run it. is this as simple as im thinking? like, could i call gcc from inside my program?

That would be called an IDE... (Integrated Developer's Environment)... and you're probably using one already.

Now... on the off chance you are hinting at the program *itself* writing your source code, while you sit and smile... no. (Think "SkyNet")

[Whyrusleeping]

well, im using emacs. which, i dont beleive is an IDE. What code would i use to call gcc from inside a program?

[CommonTater]

well, im using emacs. which, i dont beleive is an IDE. What code would i use to call gcc from inside a program?

From the online EMACS manual... Building - GNU Emacs Manual

The main page is here... GNU Emacs - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

[Whyrusleeping]

im not THAT bad at this. i know how to compile... what i was asking was using C what code would i use to for instance, call gcc?
i.e.

int main()
{
compile("file.c");
return 0;
}

[CommonTater]

Look into the system() call from the C libaries or whatever calls your OS provides ... eg. ShellExecute() on windows.