Small Device C Compiler
| Small Device C Compiler | |
|---|---|
| Developers | Sandeep Dutta and others |
| Stable release | 4.6.0
/ June 22, 2026 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Type | C compiler |
| License | GPL |
| Website | sdcc |
| Repository | |
The Small Device C Compiler (SDCC) is a free-software, partially retargetable C compiler for 8-bit microcontrollers. It is distributed under the GNU General Public License. The package also contains an assembler, linker, simulator and debugger. SDCC is a popular open-source C compiler for microcontrollers compatible with Intel 8051/MCS-51.
Version 4.6.0 added e.g. "C2y _Countof operator", octal, and if-declaration, "Conditional operator with omitted second operand (originally a GNU extension)"; C23 compound literals with storage class specifiers and "C23 constexpr (mostly)"
Supported hosts
Sources, documentation, and binaries are available for Linux (32-bit and 64-bit), macOS (PPC and 64-bit), and Windows (32-bit and 64-bit).
Supported targets
The following include binary compatible derivatives:
- Intel 8031, 8032, 8051, 8052; Maxim/Dallas DS80C390; C8051
- Motorola/Freescale/NXP 68HC08 and S08
- Padauk PDK14 and PDK15
- Sharp SM83, the CPU found in the Nintendo Game Boy LR35902 SoC
- STMicroelectronics STM8
- Zilog Z80, Z180, eZ80 in Z80 mode; Rabbit Semiconductor 2000, 2000A, 3000, 3000A, 4000, 6000; Toshiba TLCS-90; Z80N (ZX Spectrum Next processor), R800.
- MOS Technology 6502, WDC 65C02.
Work in progress:
Obsolete:
- AVR microcontrollers used to be a supported target, but was made obsolete by avr-gcc in 2010 (SDCC 3.0.0).
See also
References
- 1 2 "Small Device C Compiler (SDCC) / News: SDCC 4.6.0 released". sourceforge.net. Retrieved 2026-09-04.
- ↑ Rainer Leupers, Peter Marwedel: "Retargetable Compiler Technology for Embedded Systems: Tools and Applications", page 126. Springer, 2001
- ↑ "Porting Contiki Operating System to RIEST2430" by Juan Wang, Wei Ma, and Dan Liu, published in "Emerging Intelligent Computing Technology and Applications", 2012, p. 383: "Due to the 8051 MCU’s unique characteristics, there are only a handful of toolchains available. The most noteworthy open source solution is the Small Device C Compiler (SDCC)."
- ↑ Lewin Edwards "Open-Source Robotics and Process Control Cookbook: Designing and Building Robust, Dependable Real-time Systems", 2005, p. 15: "Worse still, the only halfway decent open-source C compiler for the 8051 (sdcc) is exactly that—only halfway decent."
- ↑ Lewin A. R. W. Edwards (2006). So, You Wanna be an Embedded Engineer: The Guide to Embedded Engineering, from Consultancy to the Corporate Ladder. p. 51.: "I personally prefer to use the free compiler package, sdcc. This is unquestionably the poor man's choice of 8051 C compilers, ... in any case, sdcc is perfectly adequate for hobbyist, low-volume and/or educational projects."
- ↑ Padauk website
- ↑ "SDCC - Small Device C Compiler". Retrieved 2013-01-20.
- ↑ Setting up the free compiler SDCC at MPLABX, Google Sites
External links
- Small Device C Compiler on SourceForge
- Sandeep Dutta - Anatomy of a Compiler. A Retargetable ANSI-C Compiler. "Circuit Cellar", issue 121, August 2000, page 35
- SDCC Open Knowledge Resource
- SDCC Open Knowledge Resource
- FOSDEM 2015 presentation on SDCC
- FOSDEM 2024 presentation on SDCC
- A port of FreeRTOS to 8051
- Using SDCC on the AT89C52 (8051 derivative)
- Using SDCC for PIC on Windows with MPLABX
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