Chapter 25
Compiling the source
25.1
Introduction
4tH is primarily designed as a powerful and easy to use toolkit for developers. You can use it "as is" and you’ve got a very flexible calculation-engine. You can tailor it to a specific application and push it even further. Or you just might want to use one of the safest and easiest Forth-alike environments ever created. These are all valid reasons and I will try to address them all.
First, I will show you how to compile the example applications. They are far from useless.
In fact, you will have created a complete programming environment. Second, I will show you how to create the 4tH library and how to use it. Third, I will explain to you how the compiler works and how you can make simple additions to 4tH.
If you find any errors in this document please contact me by sending email to "[email protected]". You would be helping a lot of future 4tH users.
25.2
Recommended and preferred compilers
4tH is written in ANSI-C and K&R C and should be portable to any platform that supports such a compiler. All memory-models are supported, although the usual restrictions apply.
Of course, it is impossible to test every single compiler on the market, but there are a number of compilers that are known to work. Preferred compilers are Open Source and are available for a number of platforms. When properly installed, the entire compilation can be performed in two simple steps: make
Then login as root and enter: make install
That’s all. If the installation fails in the last stage, try: make mostlyinstall
476
