This raises a similar question, that I had been wondering about ... If "gcc" has been ported or targeted (ie. as a cross-compiler) to a particular platform, does this mean that "gpc" can be readily (ie. easily) ported or targeted to the same platform? For example, I have seen mention of (but have not located) a "gcc" cross-compiler for the Motorola 68HC11 microcontroller - could this be used with "gpc" to make a Pascal cross-compiler for the 68HC11? Joe.

-----Original Message----- From: strobe anarkhos [SMTP:anarkhos@mac.com] Sent: Friday, October 05, 2001 2:21 PM To: gpc@gnu.de Subject: Darwin port possible?

Is this project still alive?

I'd like to know if anybody has tried porting gpc to Darwin PPC. Mac OS X has a very large and extensive pascal library called Carbon. It's written in C but all functions are extern pascal. Currently pascal programmers wanting to write applications for OS X have to use an old version of Code Warrior in MacOS and compile a PEF executable. This situation isn't very convenient to say the least. C/C++ programmers can use gcc to compile Mach-O executables, the native binary format for OS X.

(pascal used to be the native programming language for MacOS, but has fallen in favor of C using extern pascal functions and pascal strings. Carbon is a huge library consisting of nearly all APIs accumulated over the decades, and some which were not included have 3rd party implementations like QD3D. Quite possibly this is the largest and most complete set of APIs with pascal interfaces)

As an added benefit it should be possible to adapt Project Builder, the free OS X IDE, for compiling pascal applications. It's already been adapted to compile C++, Java and AppleScript. It already uses gdb for ObjC/C/C++ debugging. Perhaps the old MacApp Object Pascal framework can be revived, if gpc was ported. There is certainly potential for a pascal renaissance given a free compiler coupled with this extensive pascal-based API.

I'm not an expert in gcc internals so I'm not sure if I could do it myself.