Would such a program be useful(or possible)? Alternately, does one already exist? I mean, M$ can write interpreters for VB and QBasic, why not do it for C? Or is there some sort of fundamental design flaw in the language which would prevent it? Martee Magnum Games

I seem to recall an interpreted C.. from a long time ago.. But I can''t remember who made it. I assume it does exist; probably using some sort of P-Code. But I haven''t heard or seen one lately.

// CHRIS

I heard about something like that a while ago.

But i can''t find 1 point why anybody should use an Interpreter instead of a Compiler? (I''d like to hear some points, thx ;-)

cya,

Phil

Yes, it is possible to write an interpreter for C. In fact, I own a book, "C - The Complete Reference, 3rd Ed." by Herbert Schildt, that goes through the development of a C interpreter in C! It only covers a subset of the language, but it is still pretty much C. It''s a really good read. Interesting info on developing a language parser/interpreter. Herbert Schildt kicks major booty in all of his C/C++/STL books, IMHO.

ISBN 0-07-882101-0 if you want to check it out yourself.

As far as where to download a working interpreter for C instead of writing your own, I have no idea.

quote: Original post by phueppl1

I heard about something like that a while ago.

But i can''t find 1 point why anybody should use an Interpreter instead of a Compiler? (I''d like to hear some points, thx ;-)

cya,

Phil

Well, the only reason I can think of at the moment is cross platform compatibility. If you write solely in ANSI C and you distribute the source file instead of an executable, you''d get to run your program on all platforms that have a C interpreter.

But seeing that it''s interpreted, speed would be a problem...

quote: Original post by phueppl1
......
But i can''t find 1 point why anybody should use an Interpreter instead of a Compiler? (I''d like to hear some points, thx ;-)

It can be used for debuging - an interpreter allows quick runtime changes in the code.

btw, MSVC6.0 has ability to recompile changed code from debuger - Edit & continue.
This feature has a lot of limitations, but quite useful anyway.

To respond to the question correctly, yes, there are some interpreters for C. Not sure for windows but in Linux, there is one. I don't remember the name but I've seen it in the package list. Never thought of installing it though as I don't have a need for them. None the less, there probably are some for windows and dos also.

If you plan on creating one, it should be fairly easy to code as you only need to parse the code file.


Anyhow,

this is my opinion...



Cyberdrek
Headhunter Soft
DLC Multimedia

Edited by - Cyberdrek on August 8, 2000 8:59:05 AM

It would reduce ... err ... eliminate comile time allowing for quicker prototyping if speed wasnt an issue.

May have trouble using libraries traditionally linked in. I dunno.

Dr_Evil: But if you are programming modularly, the objects for other modules are already created, so you only need to compile the current module and link it with the rest of the objects... Not very much time on the beasts of today


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quote: Original post by phueppl1

But i can''t find 1 point why anybody should use an Interpreter instead of a Compiler? (I''d like to hear some points, thx ;-)

1 Point? Debugging speed. Especially on larger projects. No need to spend time compiling, and then running a debugger, when you can just run your code right off the bat. I think that counts as a point

NuffSaid: ''Cross Platform Compatibility''. Yeah, that''s true. I hadn''t even thought about that. Thanks dude - another reason to write an interpreter



Martee
Magnum Games