Getting Started with ReviveSparc

This guide will walk you through building ReviveSparc from source and running your first SPARC program.

Prerequisites

Linux (x86_64 or aarch64) or macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon)
GCC or Clang (C11 support required)
Make (3.81 or later)
CMake (3.20 or later)
Git

Optional but recommended:

gcc-sparc-linux-gnu for cross-compiling SPARC Linux programs
qemu-system-sparc64 for comparison testing

Building from Source

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/revivesparc/revivesparc.git
cd revivesparc

Build the emulator:

make

The resulting binary is sparc-emu in the project root directory.

Build Options

Option	Description	Default
`DEBUG=1`	Enable debug symbols and verbose logging	off
`OPT=0`	Disable optimizations	off
`TRACE=1`	Enable instruction tracing	off
`CC=clang`	Use Clang instead of GCC	gcc

Example with debug enabled:

make DEBUG=1

Running the Test Suite

make test

This runs the ISA verification suite, which tests every implemented instruction against known-good results.

Your First SPARC Program

Create a file hello.S with the following SPARC assembly:

.section ".text"
.global _start

_start:
    save    %sp, -96, %sp
    mov     1, %g1        ! SYS_write
    mov     1, %o0        ! fd = stdout
    sethi   %hi(msg), %o1
    or      %o1, %lo(msg), %o1
    mov     13, %o2       ! length
    ta      0x6d          ! trap to kernel
    clr     %o0           ! status = 0
    mov     1, %g1        ! SYS_exit
    ta      0x6d

.section ".data"
msg:
    .asciz "Hello, SPARC!\n"

Assemble and link using the SPARC cross-toolchain:

sparc-linux-as hello.S -o hello.o
sparc-linux-ld hello.o -o hello

Run it under ReviveSparc:

./sparc-emu hello

You should see:

Hello, SPARC!

Next Steps

Read the Build Guide for advanced build configurations
Explore the ISA Reference for instruction set details
Check the FAQ for common questions

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