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https://github.com/cforall/cforall

The compiler and standard distribution for the C∀ programming language
https://github.com/cforall/cforall

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The compiler and standard distribution for the C∀ programming language

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README 

        
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 

  #include 

  }



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 [email protected], 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.