digitalmars.D - Future of D on alternate platforms
- Frustrated (23/23) Feb 21 2014 How difficult is it to port D code to future projects on
How difficult is it to port D code to future projects on alternate platforms(mainly coming from win) and, if needed be, a compiler for those platforms? At this point, I'm wondering how difficult code I'm writing for windows will be to port to, say, the iOS, mac, arm, and more likely, embedded systems such as the tigerSharc, etc. I've heard many times the LLVM compiler mentioned in the forums and it seems to be able to compile D code to any platform the compiler supports(but somehow independent of D... maybe it compiles it to an intermediate language?). My goal at this point is to use D on windows to create some algorithmic software and then potentially port it to some embedded system with minimal rewrite of the core code. e.g., I don't want to have to rewrite the algorithms in C and use the compiler tools for that system. If that was the case there is little reason to use D in the first place. Obviously there is no magic compiler that will do it all. I'm curious though as to the possibility. In 2 years could one expect D to be more widely used on other systems? I see people already getting D started on ARM and iOS so it seems feasible that in the near future it would be relatively easy to port the code(obviously there are functional differences due to the OS but I'm talking about the cpu issues at this point).
Feb 21 2014
"Joakim" <joakim airpost.net> On Friday, 21 February 2014 at 20:55:58 UTC, Frustrated wrote:How difficult is it to port D code to future projects on alternate platforms(mainly coming from win) and, if needed be, a compiler for those platforms? At this point, I'm wondering how difficult code I'm writing for windows will be to port to, say, the iOS, mac, arm, and more likely, embedded systems such as the tigerSharc, etc.Well, there is a Mac compiler, you could try it out and see. ;) As for the rest, they're being actively developed, but certainly not ready yet.I've heard many times the LLVM compiler mentioned in the forums and it seems to be able to compile D code to any platform the compiler supports(but somehow independent of D... maybe it compiles it to an intermediate language?).Yes, LDC can generate native code for many architectures, but that's only the base of platform support. There are many other integration issues. But that hasn't stopped the LDC developers from providing decent support for linux/PowerPC, for example: http://wiki.dlang.org/LDCMy goal at this point is to use D on windows to create some algorithmic software and then potentially port it to some embedded system with minimal rewrite of the core code. e.g., I don't want to have to rewrite the algorithms in C and use the compiler tools for that system. If that was the case there is little reason to use D in the first place.I think it depends on the embedded system. D obviously doesn't support anywhere near the number of platforms as C/C++, at least not yet.Obviously there is no magic compiler that will do it all. I'm curious though as to the possibility. In 2 years could one expect D to be more widely used on other systems? I see people already getting D started on ARM and iOS so it seems feasible that in the near future it would be relatively easy to port the code(obviously there are functional differences due to the OS but I'm talking about the cpu issues at this point).Nobody can look into the future. It looks like good progress is being made, but no promises can be made. Given the amount of architectures that llvm supports, I don't think code generation for different CPUs will be the problem, more likely OS integration issues. Depending on the platform, you may have to roll your sleeves up and pitch in.
Feb 22 2014
On Friday, 21 February 2014 at 20:55:58 UTC, Frustrated wrote:How difficult is it to port D code to future projects on alternate platforms(mainly coming from win) and, if needed be, a compiler for those platforms? At this point, I'm wondering how difficult code I'm writing for windows will be to port to, say, the iOS, mac, arm, and more likely, embedded systems such as the tigerSharc, etc. I've heard many times the LLVM compiler mentioned in the forums and it seems to be able to compile D code to any platform the compiler supports(but somehow independent of D... maybe it compiles it to an intermediate language?). My goal at this point is to use D on windows to create some algorithmic software and then potentially port it to some embedded system with minimal rewrite of the core code. e.g., I don't want to have to rewrite the algorithms in C and use the compiler tools for that system. If that was the case there is little reason to use D in the first place. Obviously there is no magic compiler that will do it all. I'm curious though as to the possibility. In 2 years could one expect D to be more widely used on other systems? I see people already getting D started on ARM and iOS so it seems feasible that in the near future it would be relatively easy to port the code(obviously there are functional differences due to the OS but I'm talking about the cpu issues at this point).Hi Frustrated! With LDC, you can potential target all platforms supported by LLVM. The big problem is the runtime support. Some of the modules are very low-level and you have to implement them for every platform (e.g. core.thread, the vararg interface or exception handling). This is not always easy. On ARM, there is a bug in the exception handling code. PPC64 has good support (there are still bugs, too!) but PPC32 requires more work. I currently evaluate if I can add support for MIPS64, too. LDC has still a cross-compiling issue with floating points but I already have a fix for this (which requires more testing before commit). If the CPU of your device is already supported by the runtime, then you can reach your goal. At Phobos level, the biggest difference between devices is accuracy of real data type (may be different!). BTW: Which is your target platform? Regards, Kai
Feb 26 2014