

ARM launches free toolkit for Android - kgutteridge
http://www.arm.com/products/tools/software-tools/ds-5/community-edition/index.php

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cpeterso
Does this Community Edition toolkit include armcc, ARM's excellent (but
expensive) optimizing compiler?

I don't understand why ARM charges thousands of dollars per seat for their
compiler. gcc generates crappy ARM code. Doesn't ARM want all developers to be
able to build fast ARM applications? Why doesn't ARM just contribute their
compiler expertise to improving gcc rather than developing a complete
toolchain?

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ori_b
_Doesn't ARM want all developers to be able to build fast ARM applications?_

No. Arm wants to make money, ideally off of the ARM architecture and related
stuff. If they can make more money by selling their compiler, they'll do it.

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cpeterso
But how much money does ARM really make selling (perhaps only a few hundred?)
compiler licenses? Compare that revenue to strengthening the ARM platform's
position compared to competing embedded architectures?

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WildUtah
Not available for OS/X.

Wants to force you to wrestle with the 600 pound monster of Eclipse.

Not free if you company has ten people or more.

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fpgeek
> Not available for OS/X.

That's a reasonable complaint.

> Wants to force you to wrestle with the 600 pound monster of Eclipse.

The Android SDK is based on Eclipse. If you want to complain about that, talk
to Google. Complaining to ARM is just silly.

> Not free if you company has ten people or more.

Yes, it is a freemium model. What's wrong with that?

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WildUtah
There's an Eclipse plugin in the Android SDK, but the Android SDK isn't based
on Eclipse.

I use it with the far more pleasurable command line tools and ultra-productive
text editor Vim.

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jon6
This is not an alternative to the android ndk, right? I haven't had to use the
ndk-gdb debugger so far (I just debug the native linux version) so I'm not
sure if this project will help me or not.

Maybe the system profiler is worthwhile? Anyone know?

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CobaltHex
this is for writing arm assembly afaict, ndk is c/c++ (though u can probably
do assembly) but this is kind of like an msvc vs gcc thing

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sswezey
I think this is one of the only times that I've seen assembly advertised as
being able to be reused on multiple platforms.

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DaveMebs
_"DS-5 CE completes the serious app developer toolkit with a comprehensive C,
C++ and Assembly"_

I think it's fair to say they expect most people to be writing C/C++, not
Assembly.

