A beta-release of the decompiler exec2c by Scott Guthery was distributed to beta testers in 1991. The program is copyrighted by `The Austin Code Works and Polyglot International':

    EXEC-2-C (e2c)
    As of 1991 in beta test
    (c)The Austin Code Works and Polyglot International.
    by guthery@acw.com (Scott Guthery )

This decompiler consist of three programs, which have to be called sequentially, or you can use a menu-based driver program (envmnu.exe). The first program is an automatic disassembler. The second program does some intermediate analyses and generates the data part of the C file. The third program generates the C-like code for the procedures, basically by translating each assembly instruction into an equivalent C-statement (i.e. making registers variables and emulating the stack). Some recovery of high-level language control structures is done. The C-output file is about three times as large as the assembly output file.

The programs have memory limits, imposed by the DOS environment (64Kb). There are also some small bugs. Apparently, this project was only a trial that was never finished. It was judged that a lot more work was required to make it a useful tool.

Overall evaluation: This is a good first attempt, with a good front-end (the disassembler).

An archive of the distribution is available below.

For tests, see DecompilerE2cTest.

CategoryDecompilation