Re: GCC vs. Open64

["Jiahua He" <jiahua at gmail dot com>]

2007/6/25, Basile STARYNKEVITCH <basile@starynkevitch.net>:
> Jiahua He wrote:
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I am looking for an open source compiler, such as GCC, Open64, Scale
> > and SUIF, as the infrastructure of my research. Though I have read
> > some of their documents, they are still complicate to me and it is
> > difficult to decide which one is better. Can you please help me to
> > compare these compilers in terms of the following requirements?
>
> Very few people could answer you precisely and with expertise,
> because understanding one compiler is already a big work
> (so deeply knowing several compilers is not very reasonable for a single
> person).
>
> You probably want to work on some internal representation.
> In several compilers (in particular in GCC with its GIMPLE or GIMPLE/SSA)
> the internal representation is (almost) not tied to a specific source language.
> In other words, your request might not be very Fortran specific.
>
> You also might consider adding LLVM to your list of candidates
> (even if I don't know if there is a working gcc based frontend to LLVM for Fortran).
>
> AFAIU several compilers fits the bill quite nicely
> (since they have a source-neutral internal representation), including GCC.
>
> Maybe a relevant indicator is the size of the developer community.
> In that case GCC is probably one of the best.
>
> Good luck.
>
>
> --
> Basile STARYNKEVITCH         http://starynkevitch.net/Basile/
> email: basile<at>starynkevitch<dot>net mobile: +33 6 8501 2359
> 8, rue de la Faïencerie, 92340 Bourg La Reine, France
> *** opinions {are only mines, sont seulement les miennes} ***

Thanks for quick reply!

I understand IR is language-independent. But I do need a Fortran front
end to work on my Fortran codes. That is why I didn't include LLVM in
my list. As for as I know, LLVM doesn't have a front end for Fortran
yet.

The size of developer community is surely one of the indicators. But I
am more interested in another one: how many research projects are
based on GCC, especially on program analysis instead of optimization?
This might be an easier but still helpful question. :-)

Jiahua