Re: Retargetable assemblers and linkers?

<predictor@my-deja.com> wrote:
> That is, I would like to feed my x86 compiler's
> code generator back end with sparc or mips code and have the proper
> object code generated.


If you mean that you feed the back end with the e.g. Sparc instruction
set and after that, it will be configured to be a Sparc back end: Yes,
such a thing exists, the most well-known one being the gcc compiler.


> [Yes, there are programs that translate one machine language to
> another. ...]


John has answered the other question.


For both questions, there's the diversity problem. The more differences
there are between the involved processor architectures, the more
difficult it is to have a good code generator that serves all of them.
The problem grows with the number of processor architectures.
I'm not sure whether it has already materialized for gcc, but I have
read on several occasions that gcc is notably behind the state of the
art in x86 code generation. (Somebody with some personal experience may
want to confirm or contradict this rumour.)


Regards,
Joachim

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