ARM launches free toolkit for Android

Posted by kgutteridge on Monday November 28, 2011 @08:20PM
from the arm.com dept.

http://www.arm.com/products/tools/software-tools/ds-5/community-edition/index.php

( 11 comments | 59 points | on HN )

Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by cpeterso on Tuesday November 29, 2011 @12:40AM (#3289260)

Does this Community Edition toolkit include armcc, ARM's excellent (but expensive) optimizing compiler?

I don't understand why ARM charges thousands of dollars per seat for their compiler. gcc generates crappy ARM code. Doesn't ARM want all developers to be able to build fast ARM applications? Why doesn't ARM just contribute their compiler expertise to improving gcc rather than developing a complete toolchain?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by ori_b on Tuesday November 29, 2011 @09:11AM (#3290324)

Doesn't ARM want all developers to be able to build fast ARM applications?

No. Arm wants to make money, ideally off of the ARM architecture and related stuff. If they can make more money by selling their compiler, they'll do it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by cpeterso on Tuesday November 29, 2011 @02:45PM (#3291846)

But how much money does ARM really make selling (perhaps only a few hundred?) compiler licenses? Compare that revenue to strengthening the ARM platform's position compared to competing embedded architectures?

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by WildUtah on Monday November 28, 2011 @10:11PM (#3288833)

Not available for OS/X.

Wants to force you to wrestle with the 600 pound monster of Eclipse.

Not free if you company has ten people or more.

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by fpgeek on Monday November 28, 2011 @11:19PM (#3289032)

> Not available for OS/X.

That's a reasonable complaint.

> Wants to force you to wrestle with the 600 pound monster of Eclipse.

The Android SDK is based on Eclipse. If you want to complain about that, talk to Google. Complaining to ARM is just silly.

> Not free if you company has ten people or more.

Yes, it is a freemium model. What's wrong with that?

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by WildUtah on Monday November 28, 2011 @11:50PM (#3289107)

There's an Eclipse plugin in the Android SDK, but the Android SDK isn't based on Eclipse.

I use it with the far more pleasurable command line tools and ultra-productive text editor Vim.

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by sjwright on Monday November 28, 2011 @11:02PM (#3288984)

What is OS/X? Is it based on OS/2?

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by jon6 on Monday November 28, 2011 @11:44PM (#3289096)

This is not an alternative to the android ndk, right? I haven't had to use the ndk-gdb debugger so far (I just debug the native linux version) so I'm not sure if this project will help me or not.

Maybe the system profiler is worthwhile? Anyone know?

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by CobaltHex on Monday November 28, 2011 @11:55PM (#3289127)

this is for writing arm assembly afaict, ndk is c/c++ (though u can probably do assembly) but this is kind of like an msvc vs gcc thing

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by sswezey on Tuesday November 29, 2011 @01:55AM (#3289416)

I think this is one of the only times that I've seen assembly advertised as being able to be reused on multiple platforms.

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Re:ARM launches free toolkit for Android by DaveMebs on Tuesday November 29, 2011 @02:46AM (#3289524)

"DS-5 CE completes the serious app developer toolkit with a comprehensive C, C++ and Assembly"

I think it's fair to say they expect most people to be writing C/C++, not Assembly.

[ Parent | on HN ]