i am currently following the ruby mailinglist where i found a post
about if the ruby interpreter can be compiled to run on mac os 9 (see
http://www.ruby-forum.com/topic/98122 )
this made me think about how to compile software for classic os9 and
below (os 8.6 and so on)
can this be generally done? how would unix-based applications like the
ruby interpreter be ported to os9? is there any documentation out
there? which compilers to use?
There's generally two compilers for Classic MacOS: Metrowerks
CodeWarrior and Apple's Macintosh Programmer's Workshop (MPW) (there
were others before that, like Think C, Lightspeed C etc., but they
pretty much got killed around System 7). MPW may still be available
from Apple's web site and is a sort of Terminal + text editor +
compiler toolchain. Very unixy, but not a straight port (it follows
Unix principles, but it's different from all shipping unixes,
eventually).
Note that MacOS 9 doesn't really support POSIX, nor does it have a
command line or command-line tools. There are no command-line
parameters that you can pass to an application, no pre-emptive
scheduling, no memory protection, hardly any virtual memory to speak
of... So, you'll need to write your own POSIX wrappers (CodeWarrior
includes some of those), and you'll need to write a Classic MacOS
application and create a real GUI using ResEdit or use some library
like SIOUX that gives you a window with a text field so you can
pretend you're using a terminal with input/output.
You can guess that the pre-OS X MacOSs are very different from
Unixes, so be prepared to do a lot of work. Another issue is their
age: Depending on what compiler you choose and what system version
you want to deploy to, you may get a rather incomplete implementation
of the C++ standard, simply because the C++ standard was still being
worked on at that time.
Also, just as one has PowerPC and Intel today, back then there was
680x0 and PowerPC ("fat binaries"), so you'll have to learn about a
lot of 68k compatibility code like Universal ProcPointers etc. You've
got a steep learning curve ahead of you. Have fun! :-)
_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
Student-dev mailing list (email@hidden)
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
This email sent to email@hidden
