[fpc-devel] Building compiler, rtl, host, target... (cross compiling) (terminology)

[Sven Barth]

Am 07.04.2011 11:21, schrieb Skybuck Flying:
> Perhaps you look at it from the binary level, but that's not fair, you
> should look at it from the source code level.
>
> Single refers to target.
>
> A zero-target cross compiler would be a cross compiler under development
> it has the framework to become a cross compiler but it does not yet have
> any supported targets.
>
> A single-target cross compiler is probably still a cross compiler under
> development but already has support for a single target.
>
> A dual-target cross compiler has support for two targets.
>
> A 6-target cross compiler has support for six targets.
>
> I would define a target as follows:
>
> Target = harware (cpu) + operating system (assembler + linker + rtl (so
> that application can hook into basic OS functionality))
>

By that definition FPC is a "multi target compiler", because every FPC 
compiler for CPU A can compile code for all operating systems that are 
supported inside the compiler. E.g. the i386 compiler can compile code 
for Win32, Linux, FreeBSD, DOS, OS/2, Mac OS X, NativeNT, ..., while the 
ARM compiler can compile for WinCE, Linux, Mac OS X, ... .

Regards,
Sven