It's a pleasure to introduce the first release of the frontend for GCC.

The PL1 0.0.1 release is based on the IBM OS PL/I Version 2.2.3.
PL1 for GCC is released under the GNU Public License.

The first release consist of a scanner and parser for pl1, and a set of test files and a very rudimentary build and test system.

The work has been done partly to fill up some commute time, but mainly out of fascination with the PL/I programming language, and also inspired by previous discussions on the pl1 discussion group.

"Frontend" might be a bit of an overstatement, since currently there is no interaction with GCC, but on the other hand, the process has now been started.

This release is merely done, to spread the word and get some wider testing of the gramma that has been implemented so far. If you want to learn PL/I, you are probably better of waiting a few releases, until the various bugs has been eliminated and the code generation is implemented.

Currently some knowledge of how to use the commandline, and the basic tools for compiler construction, such as flex and bison is recommended.

This is not yet a complete frontend for GCC, but currently the "compiler" recognizes something that has a remarkable resemblence with PL/I.

Watch this space for regular updates.

Writing a new compiler is a tremendous task, but thanks to GCC, writing a frontend is somehow doable, but still a lot of work. I will continue to work on the compiler, but let me know if you want to join as developer or tester, or just want to be kept informed. Any kind of feedback are welcomed.

Download pl1gcc