[Coco] Retrochallenge -- Micro-C for CoCo

[John W. Linville]

On Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 11:06:52AM -0600, William Astle wrote:
> On 2013-07-31 10:57, Luis Antoniosi (CoCoDemus) wrote:
> >I think John wants a compiler for DECB.
> >
> >I have tried the gcc6809 and it made a code for DECB and seemed to run
> >fine. But gcc is meant for multiple registers processors so the speed would
> >never be optimal.
> 
> gcc6809 actually does a remarkable job when optimization for size is
> enabled. It could probably do a much better job with some tweaking
> but that's a harder job than it looks like (I've tried). The biggest
> problem with the most recent "official" version of gcc6809 is that
> it does not build properly on a 64 bit linux platform - it has
> issues related to word size - and porting it forward to a newer
> version of gcc is not pleasant due to some massive changes to the
> gcc internals.

I think the 'chasing the rabbit' issue is a big issue with maintaining
the gcc6809 code.  The GCC folks aren't particularly sympathetic
towards non-mainstream architectures in general.  Plus, I can't help
but think that the assumptions the GCC compiler code makes about the
target are going to be more in-line with the x86_64 and ARM world
than they are with the 8-bit world -- YMMV, of course.

When last I toyed with gcc6809, it was a bit too DIY even for my taste.
Maybe that is different now?  Dunno.  I don't recall seeing much
actual CoCo code that claims to be built with gcc6809, FWIW.

John
-- 
John W. Linville		Someday the world will need a hero, and you
linville at tuxdriver.com			might be all we have.  Be ready.