# Build
This `bc` attempts to be as portable as possible. It can be built on any
POSIX-compliant system.
To accomplish that, a POSIX-compatible, custom `configure.sh` script is used to
select build options, compiler, and compiler flags and generate a `Makefile`.
The general form of configuring, building, and installing this `bc` is as
follows:
```
[ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE=<value>...] ./configure.sh [build_options...]
make
make install
```
To get all of the options, including any useful environment variables, use
either one of the following commands:
```
./configure.sh -h
./configure.sh --help
```
***WARNING***: even though `configure.sh` supports both option types, short and
long, it does not support handling both at the same time. Use only one type.
To learn the available `make` targets run the following command after running
the `configure.sh` script:
```
make help
```
See [Build Environment Variables][4] for a more detailed description of all
accepted environment variables and [Build Options][5] for more detail about all
accepted build options.
<a name="cross-compiling"/>
## Cross Compiling
To cross-compile this `bc`, an appropriate compiler must be present and assigned
to the environment variable `HOSTCC` or `HOST_CC` (the two are equivalent,
though `HOSTCC` is prioritized). This is in order to bootstrap core file(s), if
the architectures are not compatible (i.e., unlike i686 on x86_64). Thus, the
approach is:
```
HOSTCC="/path/to/native/compiler" ./configure.sh
make
make install
```
`HOST_CC` will work in exactly the same way.
`HOSTCFLAGS` and `HOST_CFLAGS` can be used to set compiler flags for `HOSTCC`.
(The two are equivalent, as `HOSTCC` and `HOST_CC` are.) `HOSTCFLAGS` is
prioritized over `HOST_CFLAGS`. If neither are present, `HOSTCC` (or `HOST_CC`)
uses `CFLAGS` (see [Build Environment Variables][4] for more details).
It is expected that `CC` produces code for the target system and `HOSTCC`
produces code for the host system. See [Build Environment Variables][4] for more
details.
If an emulator is necessary to run the bootstrap binaries, it can be set with
the environment variable `GEN_EMU`.
<a name="build-environment-variables"/>
## Build Environment Variables
This `bc` supports `CC`, `HOSTCC`, `HOST_CC`, `CFLAGS`, `HOSTCFLAGS`,
`HOST_CFLAGS`, `CPPFLAGS`, `LDFLAGS`, `LDLIBS`, `PREFIX`, `DESTDIR`, `BINDIR`,
`DATAROOTDIR`, `DATADIR`, `MANDIR`, `MAN1DIR`, `LOCALEDIR` `EXECSUFFIX`,
`EXECPREFIX`, `LONG_BIT`, `GEN_HOST`, and `GEN_EMU` environment variables in
`configure.sh`. Any values of those variables given to `configure.sh` will be
put into the generated Makefile.
More detail on what those environment variables do can be found in the following
sections.
### `CC`
C compiler for the target system. `CC` must be compatible with POSIX `c99`
behavior and options. However, **I encourage users to use any C99 or C11
compatible compiler they wish.**
If there is a space in the basename of the compiler, the items after the first
space are assumed to be compiler flags, and in that case, the flags are
automatically moved into CFLAGS.
Defaults to `c99`.
### `HOSTCC` or `HOST_CC`
C compiler for the host system, used only in [cross compiling][6]. Must be
compatible with POSIX `c99` behavior and options.
If there is a space in the basename of the compiler, the items after the first
space are assumed to be compiler flags, and in that case, the flags are
automatically moved into HOSTCFLAGS.
Defaults to `$CC`.
### `CFLAGS`
Command-line flags that will be passed verbatim to `CC`.
Defaults to empty.
### `HOSTCFLAGS` or `HOST_CFLAGS`
Command-line flags that will be passed verbatim to `HOSTCC` or `HOST_CC`.
Defaults to `$CFLAGS`.
### `CPPFLAGS`
Command-line flags for the C preprocessor. These are also passed verbatim to
both compilers (`CC` and `HOSTCC`); they are supported just for legacy reasons.
Defaults to empty.
### `LDFLAGS`
Command-line flags for the linker. These are also passed verbatim to both
compilers (`CC` and `HOSTCC`); they are supported just for legacy reasons.
Defaults to empty.
### `LDLIBS`
Libraries to link to. These are also passed verbatim to both compilers (`CC` and
`HOSTCC`); they are supported just for legacy reasons and for cross compiling
with different C standard libraries (like [musl][3]).
Defaults to empty.
### `PREFIX`
The prefix to install to.
Can be overridden by passing the `--prefix` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `/usr/local`.
### `DESTDIR`
Path to prepend onto `PREFIX`. This is mostly for distro and package
maintainers.
This can be passed either to `configure.sh` or `make install`. If it is passed
to both, the one given to `configure.sh` takes precedence.
Defaults to empty.
### `BINDIR`
The directory to install binaries in.
Can be overridden by passing the `--bindir` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `$PREFIX/bin`.
### `DATAROOTDIR`
The root directory to install data files in.
Can be overridden by passing the `--datarootdir` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `$PREFIX/share`.
### `DATADIR`
The directory to install data files in.
Can be overridden by passing the `--datadir` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `$DATAROOTDIR`.
### `MANDIR`
The directory to install manpages in.
Can be overridden by passing the `--mandir` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `$DATADIR/man`
### `MAN1DIR`
The directory to install Section 1 manpages in. Because both `bc` and `dc` are
Section 1 commands, this is the only relevant section directory.
Can be overridden by passing the `--man1dir` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `$MANDIR/man1`.
### `LOCALEDIR`
The directory to install locales in.
Can be overridden by passing the `--localedir` option to `configure.sh`.
Defaults to `$DATAROOTDIR/locale`.
### `EXECSUFFIX`
The suffix to append onto the executable names *when installing*. This is for
packagers and distro maintainers who want this `bc` as an option, but do not
want to replace the default `bc`.
Defaults to empty.
### `EXECPREFIX`
The prefix to append onto the executable names *when building and installing*.
This is for packagers and distro maintainers who want this `bc` as an option,
but do not want to replace the default `bc`.
Defaults to empty.
### `LONG_BIT`
The number of bits in a C `long` type. This is mostly for the embedded space.
This `bc` uses `long`s internally for overflow checking. In C99, a `long` is
required to be 32 bits. For this reason, on 8-bit and 16-bit microcontrollers,
the generated code to do math with `long` types may be inefficient.
For most normal desktop systems, setting this is unnecessary, except that 32-bit
platforms with 64-bit longs may want to set it to `32`.
Defaults to the default value of `LONG_BIT` for the target platform. For
compliance with the `bc` spec, the minimum allowed value is `32`.
It is an error if the specified value is greater than the default value of
`LONG_BIT` for the target platform.
### `GEN_HOST`
Whether to use `gen/strgen.c`, instead of `gen/strgen.sh`, to produce the C
files that contain the help texts as well as the math libraries. By default,
`gen/strgen.c` is used, compiled by `$HOSTCC` and run on the host machine. Using
`gen/strgen.sh` removes the need to compile and run an executable on the host
machine since `gen/strgen.sh` is a POSIX shell script. However, `gen/lib2.bc` is
perilously close to 4095 characters, the max supported length of a string
literal in C99 (and it could be added to in the future), and `gen/strgen.sh`
generates a string literal instead of an array, as `gen/strgen.c` does. For most
production-ready compilers, this limit probably is not enforced, but it could
be. Both options are still available for this reason.
If you are sure your compiler does not have the limit and do not want to compile
and run a binary on the host machine, set this variable to "0". Any other value,
or a non-existent value, will cause the build system to compile and run
`gen/strgen.c`.
Default is "".
### `GEN_EMU`
The emulator to run bootstrap binaries under. This is only if the binaries
produced by `HOSTCC` (or `HOST_CC`) need to be run under an emulator to work.
Defaults to empty.
<a name="build-options"/>
## Build Options
This `bc` comes with several build options, all of which are enabled by default.
All options can be used with each other, with a few exceptions that will be
noted below.
**NOTE**: All long options with mandatory argumenst accept either one of the
following forms:
```
--option arg
--option=arg
```
### `bc` Only
To build `bc` only (no `dc`), use any one of the following commands for the
configure step:
```
./configure.sh -b
./configure.sh --bc-only
./configure.sh -D
./configure.sh --disable-dc
```
Those commands are all equivalent.
***Warning***: It is an error to use those options if `bc` has also been
disabled (see below).
### `dc` Only
To build `dc` only (no `bc`), use either one of the following commands for the
configure step:
```
./configure.sh -d
./configure.sh --dc-only
./configure.sh -B
./configure.sh --disable-bc
```
Those commands are all equivalent.
***Warning***: It is an error to use those options if `dc` has also been
disabled (see above).
<a name="build-history"/>
### History
To disable signal handling, pass either the `-H` flag or the `--disable-history`
option to `configure.sh`, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -H
./configure.sh --disable-history
```
Both commands are equivalent.
History is automatically disabled when building for Windows or on another
platform that does not support the terminal handling that is required.
***WARNING***: Of all of the code in the `bc`, this is the only code that is not
completely portable. If the `bc` does not work on your platform, your first step
should be to retry with history disabled.
### NLS (Locale Support)
To disable locale support (use only English), pass either the `-N` flag or the
`--disable-nls` option to `configure.sh`, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -N
./configure.sh --disable-nls
```
Both commands are equivalent.
NLS (locale support) is automatically disabled when building for Windows or on
another platform that does not support the POSIX locale API or utilities.
### Prompt
By default, `bc` and `dc` print a prompt when in interactive mode. They both
have the command-line option `-P`/`--no-prompt`, which turns that off, but it
can be disabled permanently in the build by passing the `-P` flag or the
`--disable-prompt` option to `configure.sh`, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -P
./configure.sh --disable-prompt
```
Both commands are equivalent.
### Locales
By default, `bc` and `dc` do not install all locales, but only the enabled
locales. If `DESTDIR` exists and is not empty, then they will install all of
the locales that exist on the system. The `-l` flag or `--install-all-locales`
option skips all of that and just installs all of the locales that `bc` and `dc`
have, regardless. To enable that behavior, you can pass the `-l` flag or the
`--install-all-locales` option to `configure.sh`, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -l
./configure.sh --install-all-locales
```
Both commands are equivalent.
### Extra Math
This `bc` has 7 extra operators:
* `$` (truncation to integer)
* `@` (set precision)
* `@=` (set precision and assign)
* `<<` (shift number left, shifts radix right)
* `<<=` (shift number left and assign)
* `>>` (shift number right, shifts radix left)
* `>>=` (shift number right and assign)
There is no assignment version of `$` because it is a unary operator.
The assignment versions of the above operators are not available in `dc`, but
the others are, as the operators `$`, `@`, `H`, and `h`, respectively.
In addition, this `bc` has the option of outputting in scientific notation or
engineering notation. It can also take input in scientific or engineering
notation. On top of that, it has a pseudo-random number generator. (See the
full manual for more details.)
Extra operators, scientific notation, engineering notation, and the
pseudo-random number generator can be disabled by passing either the `-E` flag
or the `--disable-extra-math` option to `configure.sh`, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -E
./configure.sh --disable-extra-math
```
Both commands are equivalent.
This `bc` also has a larger library that is only enabled if extra operators and
the pseudo-random number generator are. More information about the functions can
be found in the Extended Library section of the full manual.
### Manpages
To disable installing manpages, pass either the `-M` flag or the
`--disable-man-pages` option to `configure.sh` as follows:
```
./configure.sh -M
./configure.sh --disable-man-pages
```
Both commands are equivalent.
### Karatsuba Length
The Karatsuba length is the point at which `bc` and `dc` switch from Karatsuba
multiplication to brute force, `O(n^2)` multiplication. It can be set by passing
the `-k` flag or the `--karatsuba-len` option to `configure.sh` as follows:
```
./configure.sh -k64
./configure.sh --karatsuba-len 64
```
Both commands are equivalent.
Default is `64`.
***WARNING***: The Karatsuba Length must be a **integer** greater than or equal
to `16` (to prevent stack overflow). If it is not, `configure.sh` will give an
error.
### Install Options
The relevant `autotools`-style install options are supported in `configure.sh`:
* `--prefix`
* `--bindir`
* `--datarootdir`
* `--datadir`
* `--mandir`
* `--man1dir`
* `--localedir`
An example is:
```
./configure.sh --prefix=/usr --localedir /usr/share/nls
make
make install
```
They correspond to the environment variables `$PREFIX`, `$BINDIR`,
`$DATAROOTDIR`, `$DATADIR`, `$MANDIR`, `$MAN1DIR`, and `$LOCALEDIR`,
respectively.
***WARNING***: If the option is given, the value of the corresponding
environment variable is overridden.
***WARNING***: If any long command-line options are used, the long form of all
other command-line options must be used. Mixing long and short options is not
supported.
## Optimization
The `configure.sh` script will accept an optimization level to pass to the
compiler. Because `bc` is orders of magnitude faster with optimization, I
***highly*** recommend package and distro maintainers pass the highest
optimization level available in `CC` to `configure.sh` with the `-O` flag or
`--opt` option, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -O3
./configure.sh --opt 3
```
Both commands are equivalent.
The build and install can then be run as normal:
```
make
make install
```
As usual, `configure.sh` will also accept additional `CFLAGS` on the command
line, so for SSE4 architectures, the following can add a bit more speed:
```
CFLAGS="-march=native -msse4" ./configure.sh -O3
make
make install
```
Building with link-time optimization (`-flto` in clang) can further increase the
performance. I ***highly*** recommend doing so.
I do **NOT*** recommend building with `-march=native`; doing so reduces this
`bc`'s performance.
Manual stripping is not necessary; non-debug builds are automatically stripped
in the link stage.
## Debug Builds
Debug builds (which also disable optimization if no optimization level is given
and if no extra `CFLAGS` are given) can be enabled with either the `-g` flag or
the `--debug` option, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -g
./configure.sh --debug
```
Both commands are equivalent.
The build and install can then be run as normal:
```
make
make install
```
## Stripping Binaries
By default, when `bc` and `dc` are not built in debug mode, the binaries are
stripped. Stripping can be disabled with either the `-T` or the
`--disable-strip` option, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -T
./configure.sh --disable-strip
```
Both commands are equivalent.
The build and install can then be run as normal:
```
make
make install
```
## Binary Size
When built with both calculators, all available features, and `-Os` using
`clang` and `musl`, the executable is 140.4 kb (140,386 bytes) on `x86_64`. That
isn't much for what is contained in the binary, but if necessary, it can be
reduced.
The single largest user of space is the `bc` calculator. If just `dc` is needed,
the size can be reduced to 107.6 kb (107,584 bytes).
The next largest user of space is history support. If that is not needed, size
can be reduced (for a build with both calculators) to 119.9 kb (119,866 bytes).
There are several reasons that history is a bigger user of space than `dc`
itself:
* `dc`'s lexer and parser are *tiny* compared to `bc`'s because `dc` code is
almost already in the form that it is executed in, while `bc` has to not only
adjust the form to be executable, it has to parse functions, loops, `if`
statements, and other extra features.
* `dc` does not have much extra code in the interpreter.
* History has a lot of const data for supporting `UTF-8` terminals.
* History pulls in a bunch of more code from the `libc`.
The next biggest user is extra math support. Without it, the size is reduced to
124.0 kb (123,986 bytes) with history and 107.6 kb (107,560 bytes) without
history.
The reasons why extra math support is bigger than `dc`, besides the fact that
`dc` is small already, are:
* Extra math supports adds an extra math library that takes several kilobytes of
constant data space.
* Extra math support includes support for a pseudo-random number generator,
including the code to convert a series of pseudo-random numbers into a number
of arbitrary size.
* Extra math support adds several operators.
The next biggest user is `dc`, so if just `bc` is needed, the size can be
reduced to 128.1 kb (128,096 bytes) with history and extra math support, 107.6
kb (107,576 bytes) without history and with extra math support, and 95.3 kb
(95,272 bytes) without history and without extra math support.
*Note*: all of these binary sizes were compiled using `musl` `1.2.0` as the
`libc`, making a fully static executable, with `clang` `9.0.1` (well,
`musl-clang` using `clang` `9.0.1`) as the compiler and using `-Os`
optimizations. These builds were done on an `x86_64` machine running Gentoo
Linux.
## Testing
The default test suite can be run with the following command:
```
make test
```
To test `bc` only, run the following command:
```
make test_bc
```
To test `dc` only, run the following command:
```
make test_dc
```
This `bc`, if built, assumes a working, GNU-compatible `bc`, installed on the
system and in the `PATH`, to generate some tests, unless the `-G` flag or
`--disable-generated-tests` option is given to `configure.sh`, as follows:
```
./configure.sh -G
./configure.sh --disable-generated-tests
```
After running `configure.sh`, build and run tests as follows:
```
make
make test
```
This `dc` also assumes a working, GNU-compatible `dc`, installed on the system
and in the `PATH`, to generate some tests, unless one of the above options is
given to `configure.sh`.
To generate test coverage, pass the `-c` flag or the `--coverage` option to
`configure.sh` as follows:
```
./configure.sh -c
./configure.sh --coverage
```
Both commands are equivalent.
***WARNING***: Both `bc` and `dc` must be built for test coverage. Otherwise,
`configure.sh` will give an error.
[1]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/bc.html
[2]: https://www.gnu.org/software/bc/
[3]: https://www.musl-libc.org/
[4]: #build-environment-variables
[5]: #build-options
[6]: #cross-compiling