On Sun, Sep 23, 2012 at 02:26:30PM +0200, enzovit...@libero.it wrote: > Dear GCC team, > > I would like to contribute to the project. > > I have a decent background in programming, in a number of languages on a > number of platforms, but no specific experience in developing a compiler. I > have a pretty good university education on processors, but no intimate > knowledge of any particular instruction set.
You should first be able to compile GCC from its source code. Depending on your software engineering skills and habits, this may be not so simple for you (because GCC has a lot of dependencies). If using some Linux distribution like Debian or Ubuntu, running "aptitude build-dep gcc-4.7" could help. > > I know that approaching any big software project requires a humble attitude, > so I'd really be ready to work on any task, even the most simple/boring one > at > first. Just to familiarise myself with the codebase. You might want to read the many good slides on http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/grc/ in particular on http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in/grc/gcc-workshop-12/index.php?page=slides You could also play with MELT, in particular its probe (which is imperfect and buggy) on http://gcc-melt.org/ ; some of the slides also give you a picture of GCC, in particular http://gcc-melt.org/GCC-MELT-HiPEAC2012.pdf [if interested, you could also participate to MELT which is also a branch of GCC, but there are many other things in GCC] Of course, there are lot of material on GCC on the web (most of them outside of http://gcc.gnu.org/ ...) > > Would someone indicate some easy first project to work on? Please don't just > redirect me to the list of open projects. Not sure whether that list is still > valid, and I'd appreciate a more specific proposal anyway. There is an important first mandatory thing. Follow the steps on http://gcc.gnu.org/contribute.html and in particular take care of the legalese. Concretely, you need to have a paper signed between your employer or university and the FSF which transfer the copyright of all future contributions from your part to the FSF. Getting that document signed takes month[s], so please begin to act quickly. Some few things. (After having initiated the legal process which takes time). First, read some documentations; then read some source files of GCC (the issue is to not read a lot of code). GCC is too huge to be understoood by a single human. At last, propose small patches. Some parts of GCC could attract you more than others. Don't forget to ask questions on mailing lists or IRC. Have fun. -- Basile STARYNKEVITCH http://starynkevitch.net/Basile/ email: basile<at>starynkevitch<dot>net mobile: +33 6 8501 2359 8, rue de la Faiencerie, 92340 Bourg La Reine, France *** opinions {are only mines, sont seulement les miennes} ***
