Question

I’m aware that there are programable calculators but are there any calculator sized (prehaps bigger) devices that could compile C code?

Answer 1

Almost anything that has a decent sized processor (32-bit) and an operating system that gcc supports can be made to compile C/C++ etc listed here. The tricky parts are:

1. You need enough storage to have sufficient libraries etc to make it worthwhile. (RAM may also be an issue in some cases, especially if you try to compile LARGE sections of code).
2. Getting the code onto the device – if you are just copying files over, then it’s no big deal, but if you need to actually type code in, you will need a keyboard and a screen.

I personally prefer to use a device to log into my desktop over the internet. As long as you can convince the machine to run ssh or putty (which should work on a lot of things – I can do it on my feeble Android phone – there are versions of Windows phone, iphone and Nokia/Symbian phones can do it too). Now you can compile code on your desktop machine from wherver you are…