cfa-cc: Cforall to C Trans-compiler ====================================== This is a PRE-RELEASE version of cfa-cc. It exists solely for the purpose of private experimentation and scholarly research. The authors disclaim all responsibility for the consequences of any malfunction of the software, including the malfunction of any programs compiled using the software. What is Cforall? ---------------- Cforall is a language design extending ISO C. The purpose of the project is to engineer modern language features into C in an evolutionary rather than revolutionary way. Java is an example of the revolutionary approach of modernizing C/C++, resulting in a new language rather than an extension of its descendents. C++, Fortran 95 and Cobol 9X are examples of the evolutionary approach where modern language features are added and problems fixed within the framework of an existing language. The goal of this project is to produce a largely backwards compatible version of C containing many modern language features and fixing some of the well known C problems. Without continued development of the language, C will be unable to cope with the needs of modern programming problems and programmers; as a result, it will fade into disuse. Considering the large body of existing C code and programmers, there is a significant impetus to ensure C is transformed into a modern programming language. What is cfa-cc? --------------- cfa-cc is a collection of programs centred around a translator (trans-compiler) that takes Cforall code as input and outputs augmented C code that implements new features. The translator is complemented by a compiler driver in the style of "gcc", which handles preprocessing (including cfa-cc after cpp), compiling, assembling, and linking. cfa-cc is currently written in C++, but will be eventually rewritten in Cforall. How to download and build cfa-cc? ---------------------------------------- Download cfa-cc using $ git clone https://github.com/cforall/cforall.git Read the ./INSTALL file for build instructions. How to use cfa-cc? ------------------- The compiler driver "cfa" accepts all of the arguments for gcc, and is used in the same way. For example: cfa -c test.c cfa test.o Cforall source files may end with '.c' or '.cfa' in order to be compiled by the compiler driver. In addition, the flag "-CFA" causes cfa to invoke the C preprocessor and Cforall translator and write the translator output to standard output. How to use C code with cfa-cc? ----------------------------------- cfa-cc should be able to compile and link most ANSI C programs with associated C standard libraries. Like C++, Cforall supports overloading, resulting in duplicate names that are disambiguated using name mangling in the translated C code. To prevent mangling of C names, it is necessary to wrap C declarations in an extern "C" block, as for C++. For example: extern "C" { #include <curses.h> #include <getopt.h> } The extern "C" turns off name mangling for functions and objects declared within the block. All C standard headers are pre-wrapped, so most wrapping is unnecessary. What's wrong with cfa-cc? ------------------------- The authors consider cfa-cc to be in a semi-stable state. It is possible for reasonable Cforall programs to fail compilation. A list of bugs and fixes is available here: https://cforall.uwaterloo.ca/trac. We encourage users to report their experiences to cforall@plg.uwaterloo.ca, but we can make no promises regarding support. Also, the Cforall features web-page https://cforall.uwaterloo.ca/features lists small syntactic and semantic differences with standard C. Who is responsible for cfa-cc? ------------------------------ Cforall was designed and implemented by Andrew Beach, Richard Bilson, Michael Brooks, Peter A. Buhr, Thierry Delisle Glen Ditchfield, Rodolfo G. Esteves, Aaron Moss, Colby Parsons, Rob Schluntz, Fangren Yu, Mubeen Zulfiqar, and others. Check the Cforall web site https://cforall.uwaterloo.ca for news and updates.