Awesome
A tool for transpiling C code to Go code.
Milestones of the project:
Notes:
- This transpiler works on all linux machines. Most likely, it will work on Unix and MacOS as well. Feedback is most welcome.
- Installing the
clangcompiler is a prerequisite. See llvm download page
Installation
Using a terminal window, position into a working directory (E.g. $HOME/development). Then, execute the following shell commands:
# Create a local c4go repository and position into it.
git clone https://github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go
cd c4go
# Update the Go source files.
go generate ./...
# Install the c4go executable in the standard Go bin directory: $HOME/go/bin.
go install
# Make sure that $HOME/go/bin is in the path (good practice).
# Then, verify that the c4go is available for use.
c4go version
Sample c4go version console output:
Build time: May 4 20:41:31 2024 UTC
Git hash: "c5400a76df0f5157f234547bef3ae8fb7b692685"
Usage example
# Change your location to the folder with examples:
cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/examples/
# Transpile one file from the C example folder:
c4go transpile prime.c
# Look at the result
nano prime.go
# Check the result:
go run prime.go
# Enter a number
# 13
# The number is: 13
# Prime number.
C code of file prime.c:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int n, c;
printf("Enter a number\n");
// get value
scanf("%d", &n);
printf("The number is: %d\n", n);
// -------
if (n == 2)
printf("Prime number.\n");
else {
for (c = 2; c <= n - 1; c++) {
if (n % c == 0)
break;
}
if (c != n)
printf("Not prime.\n");
else
printf("Prime number.\n");
}
return 0;
}
Go code of file prime.go:
//
// Package - transpiled by c4go
//
// If you have found any issues, please raise an issue at:
// https://github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/
//
package main
import "unsafe"
import "github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/noarch"
import "fmt"
// main - transpiled function from C4GO/examples/prime.c:3
func main() {
var n int32
var c int32
fmt.Printf("Enter a number\n")
// get value
noarch.Scanf([]byte("%d\x00"), c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(&n))
noarch.Printf([]byte("The number is: %d\n\x00"), n)
if n == 2 {
// -------
fmt.Printf("Prime number.\n")
} else {
for c = 2; c <= n-1; c++ {
if n%c == 0 {
break
}
}
if c != n {
fmt.Printf("Not prime.\n")
} else {
fmt.Printf("Prime number.\n")
}
}
return
}
// c4goUnsafeConvert_int32 : created by c4go
func c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(c4go_name *int32) []int32 {
return (*[1000000]int32)(unsafe.Pointer(c4go_name))[:]
}
Example with binding function
C:
#include <math.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int n;
double param = 8.0, result;
result = frexp(param, &n);
printf("result = %5.2f\n", result);
printf("n = %d\n", n);
return 0;
}
c4go add automatically C binding for function without implementation:
//
// Package - transpiled by c4go
//
// If you have found any issues, please raise an issue at:
// https://github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/
//
package main
// #include </usr/include/math.h>
import "C"
import "github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/noarch"
import "unsafe"
// main - transpiled function from C4GO/examples/math.c:4
func main() {
var n int32
var param float64 = 8
var result float64
result = frexp(param, c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(&n))
noarch.Printf([]byte("result = %5.2f\n\x00"), result)
noarch.Printf([]byte("n = %d\n\x00"), n)
return
}
// c4goUnsafeConvert_int32 : created by c4go
func c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(c4go_name *int32) []int32 {
return (*[1000000]int32)(unsafe.Pointer(c4go_name))[:]
}
// frexp - add c-binding for implemention function
func frexp(arg0 float64, arg1 []int32) float64 {
return float64(C.frexp(C.double(arg0), (*C.int)(unsafe.Pointer(&arg1[0]))))
}
Example with C-pointers and C-arrays
#include <stdio.h>
// input argument - C-pointer
void a(int* v1) { printf("a: %d\n", *v1); }
// input argument - C-array
void b(int v1[], int size)
{
for (size--; size >= 0; size--) {
printf("b: %d %d\n", size, v1[size]);
}
}
int main()
{
// value
int i1 = 42;
a(&i1);
b(&i1, 1);
// C-array
int i2[] = { 11, 22 };
a(i2);
b(i2, 2);
// C-pointer from value
int* i3 = &i1;
a(i3);
b(i3, 1);
// C-pointer from array
int* i4 = i2;
a(i4);
b(i4, 2);
// C-pointer from array
int* i5 = i2[1];
a(i5);
b(i5, 1);
return 0;
}
//
// Package - transpiled by c4go
//
// If you have found any issues, please raise an issue at:
// https://github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/
//
package main
import "unsafe"
import "github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/noarch"
// a - transpiled function from C4GO/examples/ap.c:4
func a(v1 []int32) {
// input argument - C-pointer
noarch.Printf([]byte("a: %d\n\x00"), v1[0])
}
// b - transpiled function from C4GO/examples/ap.c:7
func b(v1 []int32, size int32) {
{
// input argument - C-array
for size -= 1; size >= 0; size-- {
noarch.Printf([]byte("b: %d %d\n\x00"), size, v1[size])
}
}
}
// main - transpiled function from C4GO/examples/ap.c:14
func main() {
var i1 int32 = 42
// value
a(c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(&i1))
b(c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(&i1), 1)
var i2 []int32 = []int32{11, 22}
// C-array
a(i2)
b(i2, 2)
var i3 []int32 = c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(&i1)
// C-pointer from value
a(i3)
b(i3, 1)
var i4 []int32 = i2
// C-pointer from array
a(i4)
b(i4, 2)
var i5 []int32 = i2[1:]
// C-pointer from array
a(i5)
b(i5, 1)
return
}
// c4goUnsafeConvert_int32 : created by c4go
func c4goUnsafeConvert_int32(c4go_name *int32) []int32 {
return (*[1000000]int32)(unsafe.Pointer(c4go_name))[:]
}
Example of transpilation neatvi.
# clone git repository
git clone https://github.com/aligrudi/neatvi.git
# move in folder
cd neatvi
# look in Makefile
cat Makefile
Makefile:
CC = cc
CFLAGS = -Wall -O2
LDFLAGS =
OBJS = vi.o ex.o lbuf.o mot.o sbuf.o ren.o dir.o syn.o reg.o led.o \
uc.o term.o rset.o regex.o cmd.o conf.o
all: vi
conf.o: conf.h
%.o: %.c
$(CC) -c $(CFLAGS) $<
vi: $(OBJS)
$(CC) -o $@ $(OBJS) $(LDFLAGS)
clean:
rm -f *.o vi
As we see not need any specific, for example -clang-flag.
Let's try transpile:
c4go transpile *.c
Result:
panic: clang failed: exit status 1:
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:6:14: error: redefinition of 'bufs' with a different type: 'char *[256]' vs 'struct buf [8]'
static char *bufs[256];
^
/temp/neatvi/ex.c:35:3: note: previous definition is here
} bufs[8];
^
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:12:9: error: returning 'struct buf' from a function with incompatible result type 'char *'
return bufs[c];
^~~~~~~
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:17:81: error: invalid operands to binary expression ('int' and 'struct buf')
char *pre = ((*__ctype_b_loc ())[(int) ((c))] & (unsigned short int) _ISupper) && bufs[tolower(c)] ? bufs[tolower(c)] : "";
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:21:7: error: passing 'struct buf' to parameter of incompatible type 'void *'
free(bufs[tolower(c)]);
^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
/usr/include/stdlib.h:483:25: note: passing argument to parameter '__ptr' here
extern void free (void *__ptr) __attribute__ ((__nothrow__ ));
^
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:22:19: error: assigning to 'struct buf' from incompatible type 'char *'
bufs[tolower(c)] = buf;
^ ~~~
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:43:8: error: passing 'struct buf' to parameter of incompatible type 'void *'
free(bufs[i]);
^~~~~~~
/usr/include/stdlib.h:483:25: note: passing argument to parameter '__ptr' here
extern void free (void *__ptr) __attribute__ ((__nothrow__ ));
^
/temp/neatvi/regex.c:98:12: error: static declaration of 'uc_len' follows non-static declaration
static int uc_len(char *s)
^
/temp/neatvi/vi.h:83:5: note: previous declaration is here
int uc_len(char *s);
^
/temp/neatvi/regex.c:200:14: error: static declaration of 'uc_beg' follows non-static declaration
static char *uc_beg(char *beg, char *s)
^
/temp/neatvi/vi.h:101:7: note: previous declaration is here
char *uc_beg(char *beg, char *s);
^
/temp/neatvi/vi.c:635:12: error: redefinition of 'linecount'
static int linecount(char *s)
^
/temp/neatvi/lbuf.c:124:12: note: previous definition is here
static int linecount(char *s)
^
9 errors generated.
goroutine 1 [running]:
main.generateAstLines(0x1, 0x0, 0xc000010140, 0x10, 0x10, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, ...)
/go/src/github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/main.go:438 +0xd40
main.Start(0x1, 0x0, 0xc000010140, 0x10, 0x10, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, 0x0, ...)
/go/src/github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/main.go:356 +0xa9
main.runCommand(0x0)
/go/src/github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/main.go:723 +0xa45
main.main()
/go/src/github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go/main.go:556 +0x22
That error is good and enought information for next step of transpilation. Let's clarify one of them - we see 2 function with same function name and if you open files and compare.
/temp/neatvi/vi.c:635:12: error: redefinition of 'linecount'
static int linecount(char *s)
/temp/neatvi/lbuf.c:124:12: note: previous definition is here
static int linecount(char *s)
This is 2 absolute identical function, so we can remove one of them.
I choose remove function linecount from file vi.c, because in
according to error - it is duplicate.
Also remove next function in according to errors:
vi.cfunctionlinecountregex.cfunctionuc_lenregex.cfunctionuc_bed
Next error is about duplicate of variable names:
/temp/neatvi/reg.c:6:14: error: redefinition of 'bufs' with a different type: 'char *[256]' vs 'struct buf [8]'
static char *bufs[256];
^
/temp/neatvi/ex.c:35:3: note: previous definition is here
} bufs[8];
Let's replace variable name in file reg.c and run:
sed -i.bak 's/bufs/bufs_postfix/g' reg.c
Now, let's try again and output in file vi.go:
c4go transpile -o vi.go *.c
Now transpiled without clang error. Look the result:
less vi.go
We see warning of lose some types:
// Warning (*ast.BinaryOperator): /temp/neatvi/cmd.c:20 :Cannot transpile BinaryOperator with type 'int' : result type = {}. Error: operator is `=`. Cannot casting {__pid_t -> int}. err = Cannot resolve type '__pid_t' : I couldn't find an appropriate Go type for the C type '__pid_t'.
For fix that add flag -s for adding all type from C standard library:
c4go transpile -o vi.go -s *.c
Now, all is Ok. Look the result:
less vi.go
C standard library implementation
assert.h 1/1 100%
ctype.h 13/13 100%
errno.h 0/1 0%
float.h undefined
iso646.h undefined
limits.h undefined
locale.h 0/3 0%
math.h 22/22 100%
setjmp.h 0/3 0%
signal.h 3/3 100%
stdarg.h 4/4 100%
stddef.h 4/4 100%
stdio.h 37/41 90.2%
stdlib.h 31/37 83.8%
string.h 21/24 87.5%
time.h 1/15 6.67%
wchar.h 3/60 5%
wctype.h 0/21 0%
Contributing
Feel free to submit PRs or open issues. Main information from: en.cppreference.com
Testing
By default, only unit tests are run with go test. You can also include
all tests:
go test ./...
For tests work like this:
clangcompiles the C to a binary as normal.c4goconverts the C file to Go.- Both binaries are executed and the output is compared. All C files will contain some output so the results can be verified.
Note
Use lastest version of clang.
If you use Ubuntu, then use command like next for choose clang version:
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang clang /usr/bin/clang-6.0 1000
Performance
Main time of transpilation takes clang, for example run:
go test -run=Benchmark -bench=. -benchmem
Result looks for example:
goos: linux
goarch: amd64
pkg: github.com/Konstantin8105/c4go
BenchmarkTranspile/Full-6 5 274922964 ns/op 43046865 B/op 379676 allocs/op
BenchmarkTranspile/GoCode-6 20 86806808 ns/op 36577533 B/op 308060 allocs/op
PASS
So, transpilation time is just 30% of full time. In my point of view no need of performance optimization, see Amdahl's law.
Example of performance analyse
Please run:
# Run cpuprofiling for sqlite transpilation example
time ./scripts/sqlite.sh
# Example of output:
#
# % Total % Received % Xferd Average Speed Time Time Time Current
# Dload Upload Total Spent Left Speed
#100 2217k 100 2217k 0 0 235k 0 0:00:09 0:00:09 --:--:-- 357k
#Archive: /tmp/SQLITE/sqlite-amalgamation-3250200.zip
# creating: /tmp/SQLITE/sqlite-amalgamation-3250200/
# inflating: /tmp/SQLITE/sqlite-amalgamation-3250200/sqlite3ext.h
# inflating: /tmp/SQLITE/sqlite-amalgamation-3250200/sqlite3.c
# inflating: /tmp/SQLITE/sqlite-amalgamation-3250200/sqlite3.h
# inflating: /tmp/SQLITE/sqlite-amalgamation-3250200/shell.c
#After transpiling shell.c and sqlite3.c together, have summary: 695 warnings.
#In file sqlite.go summary : 3 warnings in go build.
#Amount unsafe package using: 2902
#
#real 0m18.434s
#user 0m14.212s
#sys 0m1.434s
# Run profiler
go tool pprof ./testdata/cpu.out
For more information, see Profiling Go Programs.