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Emscripten VS Tiny C Compiler

Compare Emscripten VS Tiny C Compiler and see what are their differences

Emscripten logo Emscripten

Emscripten is an LLVM to JavaScript compiler.

Tiny C Compiler logo Tiny C Compiler

The Tiny C Compiler is an x86, x86-64 and ARM processor C compiler created by Fabrice Bellard.
  • Emscripten Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-08-02
  • Tiny C Compiler Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-11-06

Emscripten features and specs

  • Cross-platform compatibility
    Emscripten enables developers to compile C and C++ code to WebAssembly or JavaScript, allowing the same codebase to run on multiple platforms, such as browsers and node.js, without needing additional platform-specific adaptations.
  • Leverage existing libraries
    Developers can utilize a vast ecosystem of existing C and C++ libraries by compiling them for the web, saving time and resources required for rewriting or finding alternatives developed in JavaScript.
  • Performance optimization
    Emscripten's compilation to WebAssembly provides near-native performance for web applications, making it suitable for compute-intensive tasks like gaming, simulations, and data processing.
  • Familiar toolchain
    Developers can use familiar tools like CMake and others as part of their Emscripten workflow, making it easier for those with C/C++ backgrounds to adapt and integrate into their web development processes.

Possible disadvantages of Emscripten

  • Steep learning curve
    Developers unfamiliar with C and C++ may find Emscripten challenging to use effectively, as it requires knowledge of these languages and their build systems to create and debug applications.
  • Limitations in browser environments
    Certain features of C/C++ may not translate directly to web environments due to browser sandboxing constraints, leading to potential issues with file I/O, threading, and other system-level operations.
  • Code size
    Compiled WebAssembly and JavaScript code can sometimes be large, potentially affecting load times and performance, especially on lower-end devices with restrictive bandwidth or processing capabilities.
  • Debugging complexity
    Debugging WebAssembly code can be more complex than traditional JavaScript, requiring specialized tooling and techniques to trace and fix issues effectively.

Tiny C Compiler features and specs

  • Fast Compilation
    Tiny C Compiler (TCC) is known for its incredibly fast compilation speed, which makes it ideal for quick compilations and testing.
  • Small Size
    TCC has a very small footprint compared to other compilers, making it easy to include in applications and use in environments with limited resources.
  • C99 Support
    TCC provides support for the C99 standard, allowing the use of newer C language features.
  • Dynamic Code Generation
    TCC can compile and execute code dynamically, which can be useful for scripting or embedded contexts.
  • Simplified Licensing
    Under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), TCC can be more easily used in various projects, including proprietary ones, compared to compilers with more restrictive licenses.

Possible disadvantages of Tiny C Compiler

  • Limited Optimization
    TCC does not perform extensive optimization, which can result in less efficient executable code compared to compilers like GCC or Clang.
  • Incomplete C Standard Library
    TCC's standard C library implementation is not as complete as those of more established compilers, which might lead to compatibility issues.
  • Lack of Detailed Documentation
    Users may find the available documentation lacking in detail, which can hinder learning and debugging for complex projects.
  • Limited Platform Support
    TCC is primarily designed for smaller-scale applications and lacks some platform-specific and cross-compilation capabilities.
  • Fewer Community Resources
    Compared to major compilers like GCC or Clang, TCC has a smaller user community, which can mean fewer tutorials, forums, and third-party support tools.

Emscripten videos

Monster Madness Online (Emscripten Web Technology Overview)

Tiny C Compiler videos

No Tiny C Compiler videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Emscripten and Tiny C Compiler)
IDE
49 49%
51% 51
Email Marketing
60 60%
40% 40
Project Management
40 40%
60% 60
Text Editors
44 44%
56% 56

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Emscripten might be a bit more popular than Tiny C Compiler. We know about 47 links to it since March 2021 and only 35 links to Tiny C Compiler. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Emscripten mentions (47)

  • Ask HN: Qt style "Signals and Slots" based JavaScript UI library?
    The first thing that comes to mind is that Qt now has a WebAssembly port[1] using Emscripten[2], so depending on your use-case, you could possibly just run Qt on the Web platform and avoid the need for a JavaScript framework entirely. [1]: https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/wasm.html [2]: https://emscripten.org. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 months ago
  • Ask HN: Resources for Learning Graphics Programming
    Me and a friend build our own Graphics engines based on https://learnopengl.com I can highly recommend this to everyone who gets started with computer graphics. It is a lot of new information but not the most modern Graphics library, but the information will help you understand the field and pickup any other graphics library quicker. Once I had a small project up and running I started looking at... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Software Applications Incorporated
    Https://infinitemac.org, which is https://basilisk.cebix.net compiled for the web using https://emscripten.org. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • How does one get started with unit testing?
    One place that I’ve found some real, open source unit tests to look at for an example is in the emsdk for emscripten: https://emscripten.org. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Playing with low-level memory in WebAssembly
    I am playing around with Emscipten which wraps around clang to compile C/C++ code in WASM binary and provide some glue-code API to embed WASM binary into JavaScript. Look into MDN Docs and Emscripten SDK to get started. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
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Tiny C Compiler mentions (35)

  • Weird Lexical Syntax
    > I'm not sure who wants to be able to syntax highlight C at 35 MB per second, but I am now able to do so Fast, but tcc *compiles* C to binary code at 29 MB/s on a really old computer: https://bellard.org/tcc/#speed. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Pnut: A C to POSIX Shell Compiler you can Trust
    "Because Pnut can be distributed as a human-readable shell script (`pnut.sh`), it can serve as the basis for a reproducible build system. With a POSIX compliant shell, `pnut.sh` is sufficiently powerful to compile itself and, with some effort, [TCC](https://bellard.org/tcc/). Because TCC can be used to bootstrap GCC, this makes it possible to bootstrap a fully featured build toolchain from only human-readable... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Cwerg: C-like language that can be implemented in 10kLOC
    For what it's worth you can implement a C compiler in under 10kLOC. The chibi C compiler is only a few thousand lines [1]. There is also Cake [2] and the tiny C compiler [3] which are both relatively small. [1] https://github.com/rui314/chibicc [3] https://bellard.org/tcc/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Exploring the Internals of Linux v0.01
    I was going to say, the list should include something by Fabrice Bellard. Tiny C Compiler is one. https://bellard.org/tcc/ I was thinking, maybe first version/commit of QEMU would be interesting to read. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • The C Interpreter: A Tutorial for Cin
    I occasionally use tcc (https://bellard.org/tcc/) like an interpreter (`tcc -run`), it's convenient for certain odd tasks. Not so much for interactive stuff, but if I'm building little PoCs for an idea that will get dropped into a C project, or fiddling with structs work out how something should/is being stored, or in situations where I'm making stuff that interacts with or examples based on C code and I want to... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Emscripten and Tiny C Compiler, you can also consider the following products

WebAssembly - Application and Data, Languages & Frameworks, and Languages

Portable C Compiler - pcc is a C99 compiler which aims to be small, simple, fast and understandable.

GNU Compiler Collection - The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting...

Cheerp - Enterprise-grade C/C++ compiler for Web applications. Compiles to WASM/JavaScript

clang - C, C++, Objective C and Objective C++ front-end for the LLVM compiler.

flat assembler - A fast and efficient self-assembling x86 assembler for DOS, Windows and Linux.