Subject: Re: Making a C compiler in Rust (was: Re: Resources to learn common lisp?)

On Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:34:38 +0100
"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote:

On Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:06:42 +0800
Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> wrote:

Plus, I have several good books on D.O.S. assembly coding on my
shelf, I should use them!

It'll be a good exercise between coding a C compiler in Rust, so I
have added comp.lang.misc to this discussion, since I am completely
unaware of a group dedicated to Rust. How would we make one?

If you find yourself so inclined to make another C compiler in
Rust, or even Common Lisp, then the book

/Writing a C Compiler/,
/Build a Real Programming Language from Scratch/

by Nora Sandler is not at all recommended. I'm going through it,
but I feel it should be much better. At least the exercises are
amusing!

Have fun, and please enjoy this minor tangent in our discussion!

I don't know of any attempts to port (I guess a subset at best) Lisp
or Rust to DOS. And I don't think there's many willing to try it in
asm. BICBW!

I would not be so sure about *attempts* to port Rust to DOS.
But It sounds certain that there were no successful ports.
Although I can imagine cross-compiler running on one of the popular
LLVM hosts with DOS as a target. May be, not for a full Rust, but for
useful subset. It's not impossible, just pointless.

Now, Lisp is a different story. There were/are many working Lisp systems running on MS-DOS.

https://www.reddit.com/r/lisp/comments/1c3qdos/lisp_implementation_for_16_bit_dos_pcs/



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 21/08/2026 7:13 PM, Michael S wrote:

On Fri, 21 Aug 2026 11:34:38 +0100
"Kerr-Mudd, John" <admin@127.0.0.1> wrote:

On Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:06:42 +0800
Johann 'Myrkraverk' Oskarsson <johann@myrkraverk.invalid> wrote:

Plus, I have several good books on D.O.S. assembly coding on my
shelf, I should use them!

It'll be a good exercise between coding a C compiler in Rust, so I
have added comp.lang.misc to this discussion, since I am completely
unaware of a group dedicated to Rust. How would we make one?

If you find yourself so inclined to make another C compiler in
Rust, or even Common Lisp, then the book

/Writing a C Compiler/,
/Build a Real Programming Language from Scratch/

by Nora Sandler is not at all recommended. I'm going through it,
but I feel it should be much better. At least the exercises are
amusing!


Have fun, and please enjoy this minor tangent in our discussion!

I don't know of any attempts to port (I guess a subset at best) Lisp
or Rust to DOS. And I don't think there's many willing to try it in
asm. BICBW!

I would not be so sure about *attempts* to port Rust to DOS.
But It sounds certain that there were no successful ports.
Although I can imagine cross-compiler running on one of the popular
LLVM hosts with DOS as a target. May be, not for a full Rust, but for
useful subset. It's not impossible, just pointless.

Indeed it is pointless. I've not met any D.O.S. programmer who's shown
a mild interest in Rust on the platform. People use Open Watcom, Bor-
land, and other trademarked compilers for whatever projects they have
set their mind to.

Here in comp.lang.lisp I'd be happy to guide anyone undertaking a C com-
piler project in Common Lisp. Alternatively, Rust compiler, but I can't
guide anyone in that endeavour.

Now, Lisp is a different story. There were/are many working Lisp systems running on MS-DOS.

https://www.reddit.com/r/lisp/comments/1c3qdos/lisp_implementation_for_16_bit_dos_pcs/

Yes. Christian Queinnec even mentions a few in his book /Principes d'Implantation de Scheme et Lisp/, originally published in 1994.

At the time -- when I was reading the book, that was after 1994 -- I was
unable to find a working copy of many of these Lisps, so I let it go.

I now try to focus exclusively on Common Lisp as a practical medium of
my coding adventures.


Now, stepping inside comp.os.msdos.programmer, I wonder if it would be
hard to implement a Common Lisp from scratch, for D.O.S?
--
Johann | email: invalid -> com | http://www.myrkraverk.com/blog/
I'm not from the Internet, I just work there. | via Easynews.com https://bsky.app/profile/myrkraverk.bsky.social | for ( ;; ) _:;

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)