Otava

Otava is an experimental C++ compiler whose lexical analyzers and parsers are generated using Soul . It generates x64 assembly code and uses msbuild to compile the assembly files to object code, to archive object files in libraries, to compile main C++ files of programs and to link programs.

Before we can compile C++ programs with Otava, its standard library std must be compiled for each configuration used:

• Please complete the installation steps if you have not done so yet.
• Start a terminal in the C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\std directory and enter command oc std.project :
  Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.26200.8246]
  (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
  
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\std>oc std.project
  ****************************************
  * Otava C++ Compiler version 5.1.0
  ****************************************
  > building project 'std'...
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.type.fundamental.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.atexit.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.thread.mutex.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.init.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.type_traits.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.trace.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.rt.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.utility.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.pair.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.iterator.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.algorithm.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.atomic.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.new_delete.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.eh.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.basic_string.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.ratio.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.chrono.duration.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.chrono.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.chrono.time_point.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.chrono.clock.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.functional.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.vector.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.hash_table.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.list.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.unique_ptr.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.rb_tree.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.map.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.set.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.stack.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.unordered_map.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.unordered_set.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.shared_ptr.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.cow_string.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.error.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.exception.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.expected.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.hash.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.limits.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utf.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.stream.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.stringstream.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.time.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.thread.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.thread.condition_variable.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.core.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.filesystem.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.cppm
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.atexit.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.init.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.atomic.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.basic_string.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.cow_string.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.rt.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.hash_table.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.error.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.exception.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.filesystem.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.hash.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.new_delete.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.container.rb_tree.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.stream.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.thread.mutex.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.trace.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utf.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.shared_ptr.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/std/std.utilities.utility.cpp
  **********************************************************************
  ** Visual Studio 2022 Developer Command Prompt v17.14.30
  ** Copyright (c) 2025 Microsoft Corporation
  **********************************************************************
  [vcvarsall.bat] Environment initialized for: 'x64'
  MSBuild version 17.14.40+3e7442088 for .NET Framework
  
  Assembling std.type.fundamental.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.atexit.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.thread.mutex.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.init.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.type_traits.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.trace.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.rt.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.utility.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.pair.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.iterator.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.algorithm.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.atomic.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.new_delete.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.eh.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.basic_string.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.ratio.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.chrono.duration.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.chrono.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.chrono.time_point.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.chrono.clock.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.functional.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.vector.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.hash_table.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.list.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.unique_ptr.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.rb_tree.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.map.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.set.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.stack.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.unordered_map.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.container.unordered_set.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.shared_ptr.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.cow_string.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.error.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.exception.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.expected.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.hash.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.limits.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.utf.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.stream.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.stringstream.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.time.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.thread.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.thread.condition_variable.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.core.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.filesystem.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.cppm.asm...
  Assembling std.atexit.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.init.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.atomic.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.basic_string.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.cow_string.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.rt.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.container.hash_table.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.error.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.exception.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.filesystem.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.hash.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.new_delete.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.container.rb_tree.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.stream.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.thread.mutex.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.trace.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.utf.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.shared_ptr.cpp.asm...
  Assembling std.utilities.utility.cpp.asm...
  std.vcxproj -> C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\std\bin\debug\std.lib
  
  project 'std' built successfully
  
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\std>
  

  This command builds the standard library for the debug configuration.

• Then enter the same oc command with the release configuration and -O=1 arguments:
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\std>oc -c=release -O=1 std.project

The release/1 configuration does some optimizations but does not do function inlining.

• And finally build for the release/2 configuration:
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\std>oc -c=release -O=2 std.project
The release/2 configuration does all optimizations including function inlining.

After the stadard library is built we can compile for example the hello world application:

• Start a terminal in the C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\test\hello directory and execute the oc hello.project command:
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\test\hello>oc hello.project
  ****************************************
  * Otava C++ Compiler version 5.1.0
  ****************************************
  > building project 'hello'...
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/test/hello/main.cpp
  > C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/test/hello/bin/debug/__main__.cpp.i
  ==> C:/soul-5.1.0/tools/otava/test/hello/bin/debug/__main__.cpp.asm
  **********************************************************************
  ** Visual Studio 2022 Developer Command Prompt v17.14.30
  ** Copyright (c) 2025 Microsoft Corporation
  **********************************************************************
  [vcvarsall.bat] Environment initialized for: 'x64'
  MSBuild version 17.14.40+3e7442088 for .NET Framework
  
  Assembling main.cpp.asm...
  Assembling __main__.cpp.asm...
  __main__.cpp
  hello.vcxproj -> C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\test\hello\bin\debug\hello.exe
  
  project 'hello' built successfully
  
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\test\hello>
  
This builds the hello world application for the debug configuration.

Testing:

• Execute the application:
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\test\hello>bin\debug\hello
  Hello, world!
  
  C:\soul-5.1.0\tools\otava\test\hello>