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Is it possible to cross-compile D source code for MIPS?
For example, I want to compile a D "Hello, world." program that will run on TI AR7-based devices, which have MIPS32 processor and typically run Linux 2.4.17 kernel with MontaVista patches and uClibc (using the MIPS I generic target; ELF 32-bit LSB executable, MIPS, MIPS-I version 1 SYSV).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-AR7
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"building a cross-compiler is significantly harder than building a compiler that targets the platform it runs on." The problem exists due to the way libraries are built and accessed. In the normal situation all the libraries are located in a specific spot, and are used by all apps on that system.
Cross-compilation is the act of compiling code for one computer system (often known as the target) on a different system, called the host. It's a very useful technique, for instance when the target system is too small to host the compiler and all relevant files.
The reference compiler, DMD, does not generate MIPS code, so you'll have to use GDC and LDC2, which support generating code for whatever architectures their backends support (GCC and LLVM, respectively).
However, it's not a simple as generating the code. To get all of D's features workable, you'll need to port druntime and phobos to MIPS, as druntime is quite architecture specific. Without that, you'll be stuck without a GC, and all the features that entails.
So it is possible, but how possible definitely depends on how dedicated you are.
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