[open-cobol-list] GCC front end for COBOL

[Keisuke Nishida]

Hi,

I am a developer of a COBOL compiler called OpenCOBOL,
and I would like to make it a GCC front end.

I have experimentally implemented a GCC front end by
modifying OpenCOBOL, and it now compiles basic COBOL
programs as much as OpenCOBOL can do.

So, what should I do next?  Could I contribute the
code to the GCC team, or should I continue development
by myself until it becomes more useful and stable?

I have implemented the front end from scratch by
myself and I am ready to send a copyright assignment
(with my employer's disclaimer).

The current status of my compiler is that it is
partially compliant to the COBOL 85 standard.  It
can compile some useful COBOL programs, but still
there is lots of work to be done.

At this time, I implemented the front end based on
the gcc-3_3-branch.  I am aware of the tree-ssa
branch, and probably I had better rewrite the front
end using the new internal representation, but I am
not sure when and how I should do that.

The current implementation of my front end is more
like a quick hack; it works, but is not so elegant.
I am going to rewrite it to make it cleaner and
more efficient.

Before further going on, I would like to hear what
people think about my project.  Would GCC accept
my front end for the COBOL language?  With what
version (branch) of GCC I should work?

The source code of my COBOL front end is available
at the following page:

  http://www.open-cobol.org/gcc.html

Thanks,
Keisuke Nishida