Shell Compilers?

This may be a naive question, but does anyone know if there exists a shell
compiler (ie: shell scripts as source, generating executable code)? Ideally,
I am interested in:


                        Source: Plain vanilla Bourne Shell scripts
                        Target: SunOS 4.1.x


but I am interested to know if there is such a thing as a shell compiler.


I have looked in various FAQs, and such a beast does not seem to exist.
If it is not feasible, what features of Bourne Shell scripts make them
unsuitable for compilation as opposed to interpretation?
---
Steven Atkinson
Honours Student PHONE: + 61 7 365 3233
Department of Computer Science FAX: + 61 7 365 1999
University of Queensland Q 4072 AUSTRALIA EMAIL: atkis@cs.uq.oz.au
[I believe that I've seen ads for shell compilers in the trade press. I'd
think that compiling shell scripts would be somewhat like compiling Lisp in
that you need to understand some of the more common commands like "test" in
order to compile code that's worth anything, and you have to be prepared to
fall back to interpretation in some cases. -John]
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