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Does Linux Need Another Commercial Compiler?

Posted by Cliff on from the stuff-to-discuss dept.

Lurks asks: "My company, Codeplay, is set up to develop new and innovative compiler technology for the games industry. Our C compiler, VectorC, is a cutting edge vectorizing compiler aimed at games and multimedia applications that demand high performance generally through hand-optimized assembly. I'm writing to ask the burning question on our minds, is it worth porting VectorC to Linux? In fact, we're already targeting Linux as part of the PlayStation 2 version albeit not generating x86 code of course. A Linux port would see us converge this work with our Win32 compiler and such an undertaking would certainly be popular with our Linux loving techies! One caveat worth mentioning now is that the current version of VectorC is plain C only. 2.0 with full C++ compatibility is due early next year."

"Of course, commercial realities will rear their ugly head and we must consider that Linux isn't perhaps an obvious choice for a compiler aimed at games and multimedia applications. Given the certain degree of hostility towards commercial closed-source products of this nature, perhaps the idea should be consigned to the pet-project back burner for the future rather than rolled out as a commercial product?"

2 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. You'll need to do the thinking.. by HeUnique · · Score: 5, Informative

    Today, there are 2 compilers that are well known - GCC which is the default and most used on Linux, and Intel's ICC which is a commercial, but there is a free non-commercial version available from Intel. So far I have heard mixed reports from people about ICC effiency in terms of code generated, speed of binaries, size of binaries etc (slashdot users who use ICC - please post your conclusions).

    Now - the next big compiler that will come out (commercially) is from Borland. Early reports from various testers suggest their C/C++ compiler is kicking both ICC and GCC in the ass, but again - I belive it when I see the numbers, although Borland got a reputation of isssuing quite fast compilers..

    So - if you decide to release a compiler, you'll need to think about 3 points:

    1. GCC compatible - you'll need it if you want to be used by open source users OR to allow developers to move their apps which used GCC to your compiler.

    2. A free version (free as a beer) - in order to be really accepted and widely used by Linux users, you'll need to issue a free version for the developers to use. Intel learned this quite since the beginning that if they want their compiler to be accepted by the Linux users - they'll need to release a free version. Borland is rumored to release a free version also with their upcoming C/C++ compiler (command line version, not the GUI)

    3. Competition - well, not much to say here, but you got companies like: Borland, Intel, and the GNU GCC, along with the Portland group's compiler, code warrior (Metrowerks) - plenty of competition. do you really want to get in?

    --
    Hetz (Heunique)
  2. Maybe, but... by Snowfox · · Score: 4, Informative
    Hi, I'm a game developer. I looked at your compiler at Siggraph and GDC.

    ...when I spoke to your sales rep at GDC and Siggraph, he indicated that C++ wasn't ready, as you said. He also didn't think your symbol information would be compatible with VTune or the other standard Windows profilers and couldn't tell me of any test suites that your compiler had passed, though he named a couple which were "close." I wouldn't use a compiler which doesn't pass basic conformance testing, and I certainly wouldn't take on a new compiler if I don't know that I can profile its output to prove that its working.

    When I tried creating some simple code and looking at the disassembly on the sample machine at Siggraph, the compiler choked on some valid code (it seemed confused by the critical 'volatile' keyword), and the assembly generated was extremely naive about cache use and couldn't even hoist redundant operations out of loop operations.

    So far as I can see, I'm supposed to dump my compiler for something that lets me use half a dozen instructions I can get with inline assembly or Intel's _free_ compiler, where Windows is concerned.

    Shouldn't you finish your tools and make them work on one platform before you go trying to pitch them on others? Have your tools really advanced so far in the last few months that you're ready to split resources?