Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer
From: barry@cs.keele.ac.uk (B.M. Cook)
Subject: Re: OCCAM-Compiler
Organization: Department of Computer Science, Keele University, England
Date: 1 Mar 1994 12:31:05 -0000
Message-ID: <2kvci9$c0n@nina.cs.keele.ac.uk>

>>Does anybody know, from which ftp-site I can get an PD occam2-compiler for
>>a PC.
> 
> That was the second such request posted here within a week. Can someone in the
> know please let us know the status of the occam `retargeting' projects? 
>

We're working on it.  We're getting there but we're not there yet.

I know of 4 (potential) new routes to Occam on other than Transputer -

1) The University of Twente has a learning package for their equivalent of
  the British "Open University" which includes an Occam interpreter for
  PC's.  There's a (small) cost involved.  Off the top of my head I can't
  remember who to contact.

2) Michael Poole has a working (but not final release) re-target to PC's
  which produces '386 binaries (or '486 but not earlier versions since it
  assumes a flat address space).  This uses the INMOS front-end.  At present
  he is offering a cheap site licence for the current version.

  Michael is not (yet) on email - I'd be happy to collect requests for
  information and snail mail them to him.  I am "barry@cs.keele.ac.uk".

3) SPOC - the Southampton Portable Occam Compiler.  This has been released
  to testers and should be made public soon.  It converts Occam2 into C and
  provides a micro kernel to run the code.  Currently available for Sun4's
  (I don't know of any plans for a PC version).

4) My own work on translating Occam3 into C is progressing well but is
  generating questions about the definition of Occam3 - it will be a while
  before these are resolved.  Benchmarks (i.e. read this with the usual
  large pinch of salt) show this to be the fastest implementation at present
  - a Sun4 goes more than twice as fast as a T8 (at many times the cost!).
  Successfully runs on Sun's and PC's (and I'm looking seriously at
  implementations for micro-controllers).

Unfortunately funding is a problem for 2,3,4 to be developed further at any
speed, they'll probably only continue slowly unless support can be found.

I've not given a contact for 3) as I've not asked them if I may - I believe
the distribution will be indirectly via an ftp site - watch this space.

	    Barry M Cook.

