gcc/algol68/README

This is the GNU Algol 68 compiler.

This compiler implements the Algol 68 programming language
(https://www.algol68-lang.org) as defined in the Revised Report, along
with several GNU extensions to the language which are oriented to
enhance its application in systems programming and to achieve a good
integration in POSIX systems.

The parser component used in this front-end has been adapted from
Algol 68 Genie, an Algol 68 interpreter written by Marcel van der
Veer.  It is worth noting that this parser is not your typical garden
variety parser, as it is capable of effectively parsing the two-level
grammar of Algol 68, which is no small task.  Parsing Algol 68 is
notoriously difficult, and without Marcel's careful work of many years
this front-end would most probably not exist.  It is also a beautiful
implementation that is a delight to both read and work with.

The syntax tree built by the parser is lowered into a GENERIC tree by
a lowering pass, which then invokes the gimplifier and hands the
resulting gimple IR over to the rest of the compilation, down the
rabbit hole all the way to optimized assembly code.

The compiler driver is called `ga68'.
The compiler proper is called `a681'.

Programs built by this compiler make use of the libga68 run-time
library.

Building
========

Configure and build GCC with:

  $ mkdir build-algol68
  $ cd build-algol68
  $ ../configure --enable-languages=algol68
  $ make
  $ make install

Alternatively you can configure and build a non-bootstrapped compiler,
which is much faster to build.  But note that in this case you better
pass some flags so the compiler gets built optimized, or the resulting
compiler will be rather slow:

  $ mkdir build-algol68
  $ cd build-algol68
  $ ../configure --enable-languages=algol68 BOOT_CFLAGS="-O2 -g" \
      BOOT_CXXFLAGS="-O2 -g" \
      STAGE1_CFLAGS="-O2 -g" \
      STAGE1_CXXFLAGS="-O2 -g"
  $ make
  $ make install

Debugging
=========

A few front-end specific options useful for debugging are:

  '-fa68-dump-ast'
  Emits a textual representation of the parse tree as produced by the parser.

  '-fa68-dump-modes'
  Emits a list of all parsed modes.

See the Developer Options section in the GNU Algol Compiler manual for
more hacking related options.

Testing
=======

Invoke the full testsuite from the build directory:

  $ make check-algol68

You can pass -jN to run tests in parallel:

  $ make -jN check-algol68

Invoke a subset of the testsuite.  For example, to only run tests that
involve compilation but not running:

  $ make check-algol68 RUNTESTFLAGS="compile.exp"

There are the following sets of tests:

  compile.exp - compilation tests

Invoke only a specific test:

  $ make check-algol68 RUNTESTFLAGS="--all compile.exp=bad-coercion-1.a68"

Test in both 32-bit and 64-bit in multilib arches:

  $ make check-algol68 RUNTESTFLAGS="--target_board=unix\{-m64,-m32\}"

Test that integration with the GCC GC is correct:

  $ make check-algol68 RUNTESTFLAGS="CFLAGS_FOR_TARGET='--param=ggc-min-expand=0 --param=ggc-min-heapsize=0'"

Logs (with corresponding commands) can be found in
BUILD/gcc/testsuite/algol68/algol68.log.

See https://gcc.gnu.org/install/test.html for more details.

Useful Resources
================

- An Emacs mode for editing Algol 68 programs can be found at
  https://git.sr.ht/~jemarch/a68-mode.  It supports automatic
  indentation, pretty-printing of bold tags, an auto-stropping minor
  mode and other features.

- The Algol 68 Jargon File at https://jemarch.net/a68-jargon provides
  a comprehensive list of definitions of many of the technical and
  non-technical terms used in the context of Algol 68.

- The very formal Revised Report on the Algorithmic Language ALGOL 68
  can be found at [1].

- The truly delightful Informal Introduction to ALGOL 68 by C.H
  Lindsey and van der Meulen can be found at [2].

Community
=========

mailing list: algol68@gcc.gnu.org
irc: irc.oftc.net - #gnualgol

[1] https://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/ALGOL/report/Algol68_revised_report-AB-600dpi.pdf
[2] https://inria.hal.science/hal-03027689/file/Lindsey_van_der_Meulen-IItA68-Revised.pdf