My compilers class is creating a language that we intend to compile to Java Bytecode. We have made plenty of progress and are nearing the time where it’s time for code generation.
We are having problems locating information on how to create .class files from our compiler. Do you have any resources that can give us some assistance? We already have plenty of documentation on the instruction set, but need information on how to directly fill out the class file/the writing of hex.
We do not need information or suggestions on decompiling the .class files.
Even a simple example of writing out a .class file from scratch would be excellent.
The JVM spec is not what we’re after. What we really need is an example or a walkthrough.
The VM Spec: The Class File Format and the The Java Virtual Machine Instruction Set should do it.
You might look at the Byte Code Engineering Library (BCEL) for some inspiration as well as Findbugs (it has to read/understand class files).