Automatic Arm Compiler?

[Gilrad]

Scenario one, Example: Gjiten
There is a relatively lightweight program out there that I want to be able to use on my Pandy from day one. The audience for such an app is pretty narrow, so I wouldn't expect it to be a high priority to get ported. Is there some way I could just run an automatic compile that converts the basic requirements to ARM, but runs it completely unoptimized? Until a proper port is made, I would be willing to live with an incredibly slow and memory hungry program.

Scenario two, Example: PictoDS (okay it's a bad example, but imagine it is open source and necessary for whatever you are doing)
I'm doing some random farting around on my Pandy and the need for a small, proprietary piece of software arises. Since the software is so small, and I'm probably the only person who would ever need it--most likely right now--the ability to compile out a slow, unoptomized, but nonetheless working arm version from the source would be incredibly useful.


So is this possible?

 

[senquack]

You don't really understand what porting means, it's not about optimizing things really (unless it's a game) it's about adapting the program to use the controls and screen dimensions of the device. Since one of the programs is an X program, it will work unless it's poorly programmed and requires 1024x768 resolution or something.

As forr DS stuff, what on earth makes you think you can recompile a DS program automatically for the Pandora??

 

[hotblack]

There's no 'automatic' process although for simple apps cross-compiling is usually pretty straightforward. It all comes down to dependencies and any compiler oddities (endian issues are still a common problem).

So if you've got your arm compiler sorted and easy access to the necessary libraries (compiled for your target) then things can be simple. On the other hand going through and ironing out all the issues can be very time consuming.

Sorry but there's no simple answer and no simple way to ensure anything can be brought across to the Pandora. Some things will be easier as their source is open and the original authors have either already targeted ARM or have though in a platform agnostic way from the start. Others will be much more troublesome due to complex dependencies and relying on quirks of a particular architecture or compiler, or having hand-optimised sections of code.

I'm unsure what you mean with Scenario 2. If something is open source then it is by definition not proprietary. Any proprietary code will not be able to be brought to the Pandora by anyone without specific involvement and agreement of the author/owner. I'm sure some proprietary apps will turn up, but if there are applications that only a few people want on the Pandora, then it's unlikely they'll be ported, unless the original author is one of those who wants it!

edit: I was covering more low level issues, Senor Quack makes the good point of the higher level and more user-centric issues of adapting an app to suit the form factor/other characteristics of a handheld device. This is a very important thing to consider and often a very time consuming process.

 

[Gilrad]

I was referring to PictoDS, not ComicbookDS. The latter is a DS program, the former converts zips and .cdb files to the "proprietary" (though I guess proprietary is the wrong word since it refers to closed source) comic book ds format.


All in all, what I am asking is, if there is a way somebody with zero programming knowledge can make something small and inconsequential to system resources work on the Pandora, despite the bugs, quirks, and other random oddities that may crop up?

 

[Chip]

All in all, what I am asking is, if there is a way somebody with zero programming knowledge can make something small and inconsequential to system resources work on the Pandora, despite the bugs, quirks, and other random oddities that may crop up?

No. Nothing like that is possible.