Decompiler, was (uselessly) Re:

[davidg () genmagic com (David Gillett)]

On 19 May 99, at 11:23, Gilles wrote:

> Does anyone here can post a simple C decompiler ?
> If i need to decompile my /bin/login in Linux Red Hat, is it what i need ?

  The consensus used to be that such a beast did not, *could* not, exist.  A 
rudimentary grasp of compiler technology clearly supports this conclusion.

  My attention was recently directed, however, to a web page of someone who 
appears to have made a bit of progress in this area.  The thing is still 
clearly a grad-school research project, not ready for prime time.
  It works only on DOS executables.  It works only on executables generated 
by a couple of compilers (perhaps specific versions!) for whom the 
researchers have been able to code recognition of calls to run-time 
libraries.  It decodes all 'for' loops as the equivalent 'while' loops.  Oh, 
and while the source it produces is probably acceptable to most coompilers, 
it may not be strictly legal.

  "Simple"?  No.  To the extent that decompiling C code is AT ALL practical, 
it will never be simple.




David G