METHOD OF COMPILING SOURCE CODE, COMPILER, COMPUTER SYSTEM, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT

• US 20080059957A1
• Filed: 08/28/2007
• Published: 03/06/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Dettinger, Mark, Krebbel, Andreas
• Granted Patent: US 8,214,810 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/140
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/423 Preprocessors

Abstract

A method of compiling source code, involving a pre-processing step for including at least one additional source code file into the source code prior to generating target code from the source code. The proposed method further comprises the steps of: establishing, during the pre-processing step, at least one network connection to at least one remote server; and downloading the additional source code file from the remote server.

Claims

1. A method of compiling source code, involving a pre-processing step for including an additional source code file into the source code prior to generating target code from the source code, comprising the steps of:

accessing the additional source code file on a remote server;

augmenting the source code with the additional source code file to create augmented source code;

compiling the augmented source code to generate target code; and

saving a local copy of the additional source code file after generation of the target code for use in a subsequent compilation of source code.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of establishing, during the pre-processing step, a network connection to the remote server.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of using a local copy of the additional source code file if a network connection to the remote server cannot be established.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising the steps of:

checking a current version of the additional source code file on the remote server; and

using a local copy of the additional source code file if the current version of the additional source code file has been previously downloaded.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of:

downloading the additional source code file from the remote server if the current version of the additional source code file has not been previously downloaded.

6. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of providing a network location of the additional source code file as an element of the source code.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of providing and/or modifying a network location of the additional source code file in the form of a command option when invoking a compiler for compiling the source code.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of downloading a precompiled version of the additional source code.

9. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of establishing a plurality of network connections with different remote servers and/or using different connection protocols.

10. A computer program product stored on a computer-usable medium, comprising computer-readable program code for causing a computer to perform the method of claim 1.

11. A compiler for compiling source code, the compiler comprising a pre-processor adapted to include an additional source code file into the source code prior to generating target code from the source code, comprising:

means for accessing the additional source code file on a remote server;

means for augmenting the source code with the additional source code file to create augmented source code;

means for compiling the augmented source code to generate target code; and

means for saving a local copy of the additional source code file after generation of the target code for use in a subsequent compilation of source code.

12. The compiler of claim 11, comprising means for establishing, during the pre-processing step, a network connection to the remote server.

13. The compiler of claim 11, comprising:

means for checking a current version of the additional source code file on the remote server.

14. The compiler of claim 13, further comprising:

means for using a local copy of the additional source code file if the current version of the additional source code file has been previously downloaded.

15. The compiler of claim 14, further comprising:

means for downloading the additional source code file from the remote server if the current version of the additional source code file has not been previously downloaded.

16. The compiler of claim 11, wherein the means for establishing the network connection is adapted to establish a plurality of network connections with different remote servers and/or using different connection protocols.

17. A computer system for compiling source code, comprising

a first computer comprising first storing means and source code stored in the first storing means;

and

a second computer comprising second storing means and an additional source code file stored in the second storing means,

wherein the first and second computers are connectable by means of a network connection, the computer system further comprising on the first computer a compiler according to claim 11, wherein the means for establishing a network connection is adapted to establish the network connection between the first and second computers for downloading the additional source code file from the second computer.

18. A computer program product for use on a computer, comprising code sequences for implementing and/or configuring on the computer a compiler according to claim 11.