is a modular cross-compiler interface.
It does not contain any frontend or backends on its own,
but rather functions as a toolchain
that allows installing and interoperating compilers
follow m's simple conventions.
The purpose of m is to function as the CLI for the
garter
compiler and its components, but m itself should be simple enough to allow
cross-compatibility or incorporation into other projects.
- Download or build
m - Install modules
- Compile by daisy-chaining source files between frontend
Running m help after installation should display usage information
If you installed a module for compiling C called c99 and you wanted to produce a Windows executable using the standard garter toolchain, that command would look something like
m main.c main.gasm main.gyb main.exe // implicit
m -c99 main.c -a main.gasm -exe main.gyb main.exe // explicit
What happens under-the-hood is that the main.c
is loaded into the c99 module, and that frontend
outputs main.gasm which is loaded into the assembler.
The assembler output, main.gyb,
is then loaded into the Windows PE-EXE backend.
Note
Build paths are a planned feature,
wherein you can have an input file, an output file,
and then the m toolchain will find the shortest
compilation path between the input and output modules.
It will look something like
m --build main.c main.exe
Modules should accept the following special commands:
--version, which prints version information--contributors, which prints the name of the module, and a list of all of its contributors--license, which prints the name of the module and the shorthand name its license. For a list of such names, see choosealicense.com. In the case of custom or other licenses, the command should either printcustom:proprietary, orcustom:foss. If you are unsure if you should list your module ascustom:foss, see the FSF's four essential freedoms--mconfig, which prints the preferred module name, flag, and file extension it should be associated with
For normal use, m calls modules with
the input and output filenames to read and write.
If there are any errors during compilation,
the module should write the error to output
and exit with a non-zero status code.
m is made available under the copyleft GPLv3 license.
Assets used by m, such as the
Modula and garter branding,
are freely available but proprietary.
Modula permits redistribution of those assets alongside
the original or modified GPLv3 code so long as the copyright notice for those assets is still included.
Note
The default m license command is sufficient
for fufilling this requirement if left as-is