AW: ECL on very small chips?

[Pascal J. Bourguignon]

"Konovalov, Vadim" <Vadim.Konovalov at emc.com>
writes:

> However - ECL has closer connection to C, which will make your life easier.

I don't agree.   ECL architecture with respect to C is very complex.

Also ECL includes:

- an interpreter (IIRC),

- a byte-code compiler with a byte-code virtual machine, and

- an optional compiler that translates lisp to C, and then forks an
  external process running gcc to compile the C to native code in a
  dynamically linked library, which is then dynamically loaded into the
  lisp image.


This later part, which is what is refered to when people say it has a
"closer connection to C" is the most complex, and the most strongly
dependent on a unix system (perhaps just a POSIX system, but I wouldn't
try to strain it too much).

In any case the problem would be to run a program (ecl) without an OS.
This programs relies on OS services (file systems, process management
(signals, fork/exec), network stacks, device drivers (terminal) and
external programs (gcc, ld.so)) either thru the POSIX layer or with
direct syscalls (libc and other libraries).  If you want to run it
on the bare hardware, then you will have to provide those libraries
implemented on the bare hardware, instead of on a unix kernel.

-- 
__Pascal Bourguignon__                 http://www.informatimago.com/
“The factory of the future will have only two employees, a man and a
dog. The man will be there to feed the dog. The dog will be there to
keep the man from touching the equipment.” -- Carl Bass CEO Autodesk