The LLVM Project recently released a new version of their compiler, optimizer and code generators. LLVM includes a drop-in GCC-compatible C/C++ and ObjC compiler, mature optimization technology (including cross file/whole program optimization), and a highly optimizing code generator. For people who enjoy hacking on compilers and runtimes, LLVM provides libraries for implementing custom optimizers and code generators including JIT compiler support. This release is the first to provide beta GCC 4.2 compatibility as well as the new "clang" C/ObjC front-end, which provides capabilities to build source-to-source translators and many other tools.
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Member since:2006-01-02
Yeah. There's ICC (Intel's compiler) and the Sun Studio Compiler series. Both of these are better for their preferred targets (x86 or SPARC) than the MS compiler or GCC. The MS compiler until recently produced slightly better code than GCC. By now it's probably neck and neck, but MSFT is doing a pretty major revision of their compiler backend right now that may (or may not) bring it back into the lead.
A real measure of how good a group is at producing compilers is what they do with Itanium. Itanium is heavily-dependent on the compiler to generate explicitly parallel code, so compiler quality matters a lot. The first compiler for such EPIC processors was the MultiFlow compiler (currently owned by Reservoir Labs and called Blackbird).
I'm not sure that codegen in the compiler is going to improve a whole lot in the future. The next direction will likely be theorem-proving compilers that output information about the purpose of the code they're generating and verify the type-safety, thread-safety, and other properties of the code. You can see a rudimentary form of this already with the PreFAST /analyze extensions in MS's compilers. If LLVM can bring this to open-source, then it will be a worthwhile replacement for GCC (and a good way to unshackle open-source from the FSF).
Member since:2006-03-12
"If LLVM can bring this to open-source, then it will be a worthwhile replacement for GCC (and a good way to unshackle open-source from the FSF)."
I find this comment from a user like yourself a *strong* advocate of the Microsoft *proprietary* platform, somewhat ironic. I am pleased that you have again reinforced the fact that Richard Stallman created GCC and FSF have steered the project for *20 years*, but I suspect it is another off-topic slight against the FSF.
I would love to see justification as to why a project that involves mutual collaboration between *companies* is better in whole or in part controlled by a single company instead of an *organization*, especially since by your own point GCC is a cross-platform compiler unlike the proprietary one you advocate which is unavailable to any other platform but Microsoft's own, yet your advocating control of the compiler by companies who have an interest in only *their* platform.
Edited 2007-09-30 15:39
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PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
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Member since:
2006-12-28
I'm not a programmer, I never was any good at it, but this seems to me to be a very interesting and welcomed project, at the least considering it's license.
This bit is a tad OT, but I'd like to know what you programmers out there think about these next questions.
Are commercial compilers going the way of the dodo? It seems to me that any OS company that wishes to charge for they're compiler has some stiff competition on they're hands. Point in reference, see SCO with UnixWare and OpenServer.
As for proprietary solutions, i.e. free but closed source, are they on the way out? I know that MS has some fantastic solutions that are closed source but otherwise, anything else out there that is of interest?
Cheers.