“C or gcc” is like “Chicken or the egg” ? :( [duplicate]

Answer 1

This is an interesting question. I think you are wondering in what language is written a compiler of a new language, aren't you? Well, if we had only Assembly language (for instance,x86), the only way to write a C compiler would be in Assembly language. Later, we could write a better, yet more powerful compiler written in C by using our assembly-written compiler, and so on... An the question arises: how did the early programmers write the first assembly compiler? My father told me: by manually entering the 1's and 0's! :-)

Answer 2

They did not use some other compiler. You can write a C program that doesn't use glibc by simply telling the compiler not to use it. So something like this:

gcc main.c -nostdlib

Answer 3

There is no chicken and egg here. glibc is compiled with the compiler you are using.

That compiler was first compiled with a previous version of the same compiler. Then it can compile itself as well.

The real chicken-and-egg problem was solved in the 1950's when someone had to write the world's first compiler. After that, you can use one compiler to compile the next one.

Answer 4

There are two basic ways to build a new compiler:

1. If you're writing a new compiler for an established language like C, use an existing compiler from a different vendor to build your new compiler. For example, you could use the C compiler shipped with HP-UX to build gcc.

2. If you're writing a compiler for a new language, start by implementing a very simple compiler in a different language (the first C compiler was written in PDP-11 assembler). This initial compiler will only recognize a small subset of the target language; basically enough to do some file I/O and some simple statements. Write a new compiler in the target language subset and build it with your first compiler. Now write a slightly more capable compiler that can recognize a larger subset of the target language, and build it with the second compiler. Repeat the process until you have a compiler capable of recognizing the full target language.