1 Introduction
The CLAXP compiler consists of three major components:
- A Microsoft frontend that performs syntactic and semantic processing and writes it's results to a set of intermediate language (IL) files. The frontend is sometimes informally re- ferred to as the P1 part of the compiler. There are separate frontends for C and C++.
- A Digital backend that itself has two parts: a translator that converts the Microsoft IL to GEM IL, and the GEM backend that completes the compilation to object module form. The backend is sometimes informally referred to as the P2 part of the compiler. There is a common backend for C and C++.
- A Microsoft driver that implements the CLAXP command, pro- cesses command options and invokes the fronten, backend, and linker transparently. There is a common driver for C and C++.
The Microsoft frontend and driver have generally been modified as little as possible consistent with porting them to the Alpha AXP environment and adding the few AXP specific features and options that are described here.