Eurydice: a Rust to C compiler

I think you may not be familiar with how embedded development works.

Most teams who write code for embedded devices (especially the weird devices at issue here) don't have the hardware knowledge, time, or contractual ability to write their own compiler backend. They're almost always stuck with the compiler the manufacturer decided to give them.

I think the approach would not be to alter the manufacturer's compiler directly, but to run your Rust code through a separate Rust-to-C compiler then feed that output into the compiler the manufacturer gave you.

You're right. But I'm also surprised any device manufacturer would think it's a better use of their time to ship a bespoke C compiler rather than an LLVM backend that would allow a lot more languages to be built against their ISA, making it more valuable.

But ya, I believe this project exists for a meaningful purpose, I'm just surprised.

> But I'm also surprised any device manufacturer would think it's a better use of their time to ship a bespoke C compiler rather than an LLVM backend that would allow a lot more languages to be built against their ISA, making it more valuable.

They aren't usually building a compiler from scratch; they modify their existing compiler[1] for their new hardware, which is fractions of effort required compared to building a new compiler or modifying the LLVM backend.

Unless it's a completely new ISA, they'll spend an hour or less just adding in the new emit code for only the changes in the ISA.

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[1] Usually just the previous gcc that they used, which is why in 2022 I was working on brand new devices that came with a customised gcc 4.something