Bootstrapped C compiler for 32-bit RISC-V and ARM ISAs
- implements a subset of C language sufficient to compile itself
- generates executable Linux ELF binaries for RV32IM and ARMv7
- includes an embedded minimal Linux C standard library for basic I/O
- single binary - a microcompiler for environments without GCC toolchain
- written in ANSI C it can cross-compile from any platform
- simple two-pass compilation process: source -> IL -> binary
- lexer, parser and code generator all implemented by hand
Bootstrapped compiler is a compiler that's able to compile its own source code which is a key verification milestone. Since rvcc is written in ANSI C, we can use any compiler on any platform for the initial compilation before bootstrapping with the help of RISC-V and/or ARM emulators.
The steps to validate rvcc's bootstrap on RISC-V are:
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Compiler's source code is initially compiled using gcc which generates an x86 binary.
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Built binary is invoked with its own source code as input and generates a RISC-V binary.
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The RISC-V binary is invoked (via an emulator) with its own source code as input and generates another RISC-V binary.
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If outputs generated in steps 2. and 3. are identical then bootstrap has been successful - the compiler regenerated itself from its own source code in two consecutive generations.
The bootstrap can be tested by running make bootstrap-riscv (requires gcc and rv8 RISC-V emulator installed):
user@ubuntu:~/rvcc$ make bootstrap-riscv
gcc -ansi -pedantic -m32 -Wall -Wextra -g -Llib -o bin/rvcc src/rvcc.c
bin/rvcc -o bin/rvcc_1.elf -march=riscv -Llib src/rvcc.c
rv-jit -- bin/rvcc_1.elf -o bin/rvcc_2.elf -march=riscv -Llib src/rvcc.c
diff -q bin/rvcc_1.elf bin/rvcc_2.elf
Files are the same - bootstrap successful!Bootstrapping on ARM follows the same process and the test can be run via make bootstrap-arm (requires qemu-arm-static installed). To run both bootstraps use make bootstrap.
rvcc [-o outfile] [-noclib] [-march=riscv|arm] <infile.c>
- -o - output file name (default: out.elf)
- -noclib - exclude embedded C library (default: include)
- -march=riscv|arm - output architecture (default: riscv)
The compiler generates an executable binary file without going through explicit linking and assembly steps, it directly encodes all RISC-V/ARM opcode instructions and packages them in an ELF file. The generated executable includes a symbol table so by using a disassembler it's possible to peek into the machine code for introspection. The compiler also generates a listing of its internal IL representation for debugging purposes.
To run a RISC-V ELF file on an x86 machine you can use the excellent rv8 emulator, which allows running and debugging RISC-V binaries as if they were native ones, including proxying system calls for I/O. The usage is:
rv-jit <elf_file>
To disassemble a RISC-V binary:
rv-bin dump -d <elf_file>
To run ARM on x86 you can use qemu user emulation through qemu-arm-static.
qemu-arm-static <elf_file>
To disassemble an ARM binary you can use the GNU toolchain:
arm-linux-gnueabi-objdump -d <elf_file>
Supported language constructs fall within ANSI C and initial external compilation can be done using gcc or any other C compiler. While common language constructs (structs, pointers, indirection etc.) are implemented due to the simplicity of the compiler (no preprocessor, AST nor a formalised parser) it doesn't implement full ANSI C syntax.
Compiler sequentially translates C source code into IL and then binary meaning instruction order is preserved from C source all the way to the binary with only jumps and glue logic being inserted. This makes some language constructs (for example for loops or some comparisons) quite inefficient due to excessive jumps but compiler's design stays very simple.
RISC-V is an open source Instruction Set Architecture, an alternative to the likes of x86 and ARM, which can be used freely without any licenses required. It's a RISC architecture meaning the only instructions that operate on memory are simple loads and stores, with all other instructions operating only on registers (32 of them) and immediate values.
ARM output generates code compatible with ARMv7 ISA which is owned by Arm Holdings. Similarly to RISC-V, ARM is a RISC ISA but it offers a wider variety of operations by adding conditional execution codes, automatic index increments, value shifts etc. to many instructions resulting in potentially denser code (fewer instructions required), at the expense of reducing the number of bits available for immediate values.
The compiler generates Linux ARMv7 EABI-compliant binaries which can be run directly on a Raspberry Pi (verified on Pi 4 Model B running armv7l).
Sample RISC-V binary code generated for a recursive Fibonacci sequence function.
C Source Internal IL Binary Disassembly Comment
-------------------+---------------+----------+-------------------------+--------------------------------------
int fib(int n) { fib(int n) fe010113 addi sp, sp, -32; reserve stack space for function
00812e23 sw s0, 28(sp); store previous frame
00112c23 sw ra, 24(sp); store return address
01010413 addi s0, sp, 16; set new frame location
fea42e23 sw a0, -4(s0); store parameter on stack
if (n == 0) x10 := &n 00040513 addi a0, s0, 0; get address of variable n
ffc50513 addi a0, a0, -4;
x10 := *x10 00052503 lw a0, 0(a0); read value from address into a0
x11 := 0 00000593 addi a1, zero, 0; set a1 to zero
x10 ?= x11 00b50663 beq a0, a1, pc + 12; compare a0 with a1, if equal jump +3
00000513 addi a0, zero, 0; set a0 to zero
0080006f jal zero, pc + 8; skip next instruction
00100513 addi a0, zero, 1; set a0 to one
00000013 addi zero, zero, 0;
if 0 -> +4 00050863 beq a0, zero, pc + 16; if a0 is zero, jump forward
return 0; x10 := 0 00000513 addi a0, zero, 0; else set return value to zero
return fib 0880006f jal zero, pc + 136; jump to function exit
0840006f jal zero, pc + 132;
else if (n == 1) x10 := &n 00040513 addi a0, s0, 0; get address of variable n
ffc50513 addi a0, a0, -4;
x10 := *x10 00052503 lw a0, 0(a0); read value from address into a0
x11 := 1 00100593 addi a1, zero, 1; set a1 to one
x10 ?= x11 00b50663 beq a0, a1, pc + 12; compare a0 with a1, if equal jump +3
00000513 addi a0, zero, 0; set a0 to zero
0080006f jal zero, pc + 8; skip next instruction
00100513 addi a0, zero, 1; set a0 to one
00000013 addi zero, zero, 0;
if 0 -> +4 00050863 beq a0, zero, pc + 16; if a0 is zero, jump forward
return 1; x10 := 1 00100513 addi a0, zero, 1; else set return value to one
return fib 0540006f jal zero, pc + 84; jump to function exit
else return 0500006f jal zero, pc + 80;
fib(n - 1) x10 := &n 00040513 addi a0, s0, 0; get address of variable n
ffc50513 addi a0, a0, -4;
x10 := *x10 00052503 lw a0, 0(a0); read value from address into a0
x11 := 1 00100593 addi a1, zero, 1; set a1 to one
x10 -= x11 40b50533 sub a0, a0, a1; subtract a1 from a0
x10 := fib() f71ff0ef jal ra, pc - 144; call function fib() into a0
+ push x10 ff010113 addi sp, sp, -16; store result on stack
00a12023 sw a0, 0(sp);
fib(n - 2) x10 := &n 00040513 addi a0, s0, 0; get address of variable n
ffc50513 addi a0, a0, -4;
x10 := *x10 00052503 lw a0, 0(a0); read value from address into a0
x11 := 2 00200593 addi a1, zero, 2; set a1 to two
x10 -= x11 40b50533 sub a0, a0, a1; subtract a1 from a0
x11 := fib() f51ff0ef jal ra, pc - 176; call function fib() into a1
00050593 addi a1, a0, 0;
pop x10 00012503 lw a0, 0(sp); retrieve result off stack into a0
01010113 addi sp, sp, 16;
x10 += x11 00b50533 add a0, a0, a1; add a1 to a0
; return fib 0040006f jal zero, pc + 4; jump to function exit
} exit fib 01040113 addi sp, s0, 16; trim stack space
ff812083 lw ra, -8(sp); recover return address
ffc12403 lw s0, -4(sp); recover previous frame
00008067 jalr zero, ra, 0; return from functionAim of the project is purely recreational/educational and thanks are due to:
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RISC-V International for the RISC-V initiative
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K&R for giving the world C language (here we are 40 years later...)
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everyone else who supports RISC architectures!