Does anyone know some good resources (textbooks, papers, tools, etc) for developing a custom compiler and linker for a specific microcontroller?
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\$\begingroup\$ You REALLY need to explain your need/want better than that. If you are doing this because you enjoy pain and the challenge of long and ill rewarded tasks or are a computer science deviant then there are poor misguided souls here who can help you. But if your main aim is a useful tool with minimal effort in acquiring it then the answers will be quite different. What are you trying to achieve? \$\endgroup\$– Russell McMahon ♦Commented Sep 19, 2011 at 5:13
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\$\begingroup\$ Assuming that this useful tool doesn't limit what I can do, sure, let's go for minimal effort for now. \$\endgroup\$– dhsieh2Commented Sep 19, 2011 at 5:22
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1\$\begingroup\$ A good ressource could be the source code of gcc, which compiles for a lot of embedded platforms. \$\endgroup\$– 0x6d64Commented Sep 19, 2011 at 6:26
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\$\begingroup\$ Which microcontroller? \$\endgroup\$– starblueCommented Sep 19, 2011 at 6:32
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The book "A Retargetable C Compiler: Design and Implementation" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LCC_%28compiler%29 ) describes a C compiler in all its details. It uses the "literate programming" style, which I found more difficult to read than I expected. But I still recommend it.
Jears ago, before there were any suitable free C compilesr for PICs, I made the Jal language and a compiler for it for the PIC 12/14 bit cores. The source is GPLed (~ 10k lines C, in one file). Nowadays the language and compiler (still GPL, so you can study the source) is maintained by Kyle York ( http://www.casadeyork.com/jalv2/ ).
There is of course the GCC, but it is BIG. There are some master thesis documents that describe the re-targeting to a particular CPU, for instance http://lundqvist.dyndns.org/Publications/thesis95/ThorGCC.pdf , this could serve as a first step into understanding the full GCC internals (which would be a daunting task).
The are various academic textbooks about compiler building, the "dragon" book ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compilers:_Principles,_Techniques,_and_Tools ) being the most famous. But IMO they are almost useless, concentrating on things that were difficult 20 years ago but almost irrelevant now.
You mention "compiler and linker". That shows a mindset that is IMO outdated. For most modern microcontrollers a modern PC can cope with the full application at once, bypassing the compiler/linker split. This makes much better optimization possible.
answered Sep 19, 2011 at 7:12
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\$\begingroup\$ +1 - nice answer Wouter, some interesting links there, the Thor document definitely looks worth a read (with plenty of coffee on standby :-) ) \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 19, 2011 at 7:57
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\$\begingroup\$ But don't expect that chip to be available in the store round the corner - it was a special development for (small) satellites, with on-chip hardware for Ada task switching. And a rather peculiar instruction set. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Sep 19, 2011 at 8:06