Difference between revisions of "Cross compilation"

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*The build process can be run as a non-root user on the host unix system, preventing damage to the host system if the toolchain misbehaves
 
*The build process can be run as a non-root user on the host unix system, preventing damage to the host system if the toolchain misbehaves
  
*[http://buildroot.uclibc.org buildroot] is one example of a set of script which do this
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=Host enviroment=
*[[w:Cross-compiling|Cross-compiling]]
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*[[Enviroment variables affecting cross toolchains]]
*host enviroment
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*a version of ''gcc'' and ''binutils'' that supports cross compilation is required in the ''host'' enviroment
**a version of ''gcc'' and ''binutils'' that supports cross compilation is required in the ''host'' enviroment
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*headers to link against are required
**headers to link against are required
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*libraries are required to be present that are compatible with the ''target'' system.
**libraries are required to be present that are compatible with the ''target'' system.
 
  
 
Related articles
 
Related articles
 
*[http://buildroot.uclibc.org buildroot]
 
*[http://buildroot.uclibc.org buildroot]
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*Wikipedia: [[w:Cross-compiling|Cross-compiling]]
 
*http://www.airs.com/ian/configure/configure_5.html
 
*http://www.airs.com/ian/configure/configure_5.html
 
*[http://kegel.com/crosstool/crosstool-0.42/buildlogs/ gcc toolchain cross compilation matrix]
 
*[http://kegel.com/crosstool/crosstool-0.42/buildlogs/ gcc toolchain cross compilation matrix]
 
*[[Wikipedia:Eat one's own dog food|Eating one's own dog food]]
 
*[[Wikipedia:Eat one's own dog food|Eating one's own dog food]]

Revision as of 01:55, 12 March 2007

Put simply, a compiler takes source code as input and produces a binary executable as output. Cross compilation refers to the case where the binary code produced is designed to execute on a different machine architecture than the host system.

For example: Using a C compiler on a PPC system to produce code to run on an Intel.

A cross-compilation environment (refered to as the toolchain) provides a number of advantages, even when the host and target architectures are the same.

  • Strict control of the version on cc, libc and binutils used
  • The build process can be run as a non-root user on the host unix system, preventing damage to the host system if the toolchain misbehaves

Host enviroment

  • Enviroment variables affecting cross toolchains
  • a version of gcc and binutils that supports cross compilation is required in the host enviroment
  • headers to link against are required
  • libraries are required to be present that are compatible with the target system.

Related articles