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Spark -- GCC Plugin Interface C++ Wrapper (focus on GENERIC)

Introduction

Project spark is a student project for studying gcc plugin. The purpose of spark is trying to put a thin C++ class/object wrapper for gcc GENERIC intermediate representation. As well as archive sample code.

If it works, it will be very natural for contemporary programmers to manipulate GENERIC tree class/object hierarchy in C++ with IDE help. Left the strange GCC's object-in-C macro access way.

The working version is based-on GCC 4.6.1. Future version will be switched to GCC 4.7 when it (spark or gcc) is stable. The project is initialized in early March 2012. Since it is a student project, there is no clear plan for its path. Roughly, we should have a working release with demo/test code in May 2012. The code name spark is chosen because I like the word.

The license of spark (code/documents) is GNU General Public License, version 3 and GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.3. I do not understand the license problem, since GCC chooses it, I choose it, too.

Current working focus is wrapping GENERIC, and sample/test code for demoing/checking the use. The applicability for wrapping GIMPLE intermediate representation will be studied later when the GENERIC wrapper is finished. There is no plan for wrapping RTL intermediate representation.

The major inspired/referencing projects are:

  • GCC Python Plugin Python plugin wrapper for GCC.
  • ODB object-relational mapping (ORM) system for C++.
  • Dehydra JavaScripts plugin wrapper for GCC.

All these plugins can be found in GCC plugin wiki. Hope this project can be listed in the page someday when it is stable and has a reasonable users.

For others who has the wrapping interest in his/her favorite programming language, I suggest to study GCC Python Plugin first, it is self-contained and has many useful example/test code as well as valuable supplemental document for GCC plugin spread in its code comments. ODB is noticed because its author have written a nice GCC pulgin How to series in his/her blog, Parsing C++ with GCC plugins Part 1 Part 2 Part 3. NOTICE, the sample code listed in Part 1 cannot be compiled in GCC 4.6.1 because the header path is changed, I remember I found this reason in GCC Python Plugin code comments. Dehydra is just a cross-reference for me. I do not enjoy the project, both for its stange name, I cannot pronounce it and it is hard to remember, and for its stange JavaScript purpose, furthermore, I felt it is not self-contained. Other plugins can be found in GCC plugin wiki, they are not checked because I flet they are too large for me in this student project.

Beside code, spark may work out some documents/notes to introduce How to write gcc plugin. Since my native language is Chinese, these documents/notes most probably are Chinese (Simplified).