HC SDK for Retro Computing

Version 2.1 R3 - Multi-target cross-development toolchain for retro platforms.

Overview

HC SDK is a complete development environment for writing software targeting classic 8/16-bit platforms. It includes:

Tool	Component	Description
hcasm	Assembler	NASM-syntax multi-target assembler (Z80, 8080, 8085, 8086)
hcbcomp	B Compiler	B language compiler targeting all four CPUs
hclink	Linker	Relocatable linker supporting BIN, MZ EXE, and REX formats
hclib	Librarian	Object file librarian for building .lib archives
hcbuild	Project Builder	Build system using .prj project files
msxdosemu	Emulator	MSX-DOS 1 CP/M emulator for running .com executables

Objectives

• Provide a modern development workflow (cross-compilation from any OS) for retro platforms
• Support multiple CPU targets with a single toolchain
• Offer a high-level language (B) alongside assembly for faster development
• Generate small, efficient executables suitable for memory-constrained retro systems
• Enable testing without real hardware via built-in emulation

Prerequisites for Development

The entire SDK is developed exclusively on macOS. Other platforms have not been tested and minimum requirements should be adapted by the user.

macOS (Development Environment)

Install the minimum requirements:

# Xcode Command Line Tools (provides clang, make, git)
xcode-select --install

# Homebrew packages for cross-compilation
brew tap messense/macos-cross-toolchains
brew install dpkg llvm mingw-w64 x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu msitools nsis

For DOS cross-compilation (DJGPP), download from github.com/andrewwutw/build-djgpp/releases and extract to /usr/local/djgpp:

sudo xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/djgpp

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/humbertocsjr/hcsdkretro.git
cd hcsdkretro
make posix
sudo make install

This installs to /usr/local/bin. Use make install PREFIX=/custom/path to change the destination.

Platform-specific targets: make posix (native), make linux (static x86_64), make macos (universal), make win/make win32 (MinGW cross), make dos (DJGPP).

Quick Install (Pre-built Binaries)

Pre-built packages are available at:

https://humbertocsjr.dev.br/hcsdk/distrosite/

macOS / Linux

# Extract to /usr/local
sudo tar xzf hcsdk-<platform>-2.1r3.tar.gz -C /usr/local

Windows

Run the NSIS installer (hcsdk-2.1r3-win32.exe).

DOS (self-hosted)

Extract hcsdk-2.1r3-dos.zip to your DOS drive and add BIN\ to your PATH.

QuickStart - Hello World in B

Create hello.b:

extrn putchar;

main() {
    putchar('H');
    putchar('e');
    putchar('l');
    putchar('l');
    putchar('o');
    putchar('!');
}

Z80 / CP/M

hcbcomp-z80 -o hello.s hello.b
hcasm-z80 -o hello.obj hello.s
hclink-bin -text 0x100 -o hello.com hello.obj libs/z80-cpm-b.lib
msxdosemu hello.com

8080 / CP/M

hcbcomp-8080 -o hello.s hello.b
hcasm-8080 -o hello.obj hello.s
hclink-bin -text 0x100 -o hello.com hello.obj libs/8080-cpm-b.lib
msxdosemu hello.com

8086 / MS-DOS

hcbcomp-8086 -o hello.s hello.b
hcasm-8086 -o hello.obj hello.s
hclink-bin -text 0x100 -o hello.com hello.obj libs/8086-msdos-b.lib
emu2 hello.com

Using the Project Builder

Create hello.prj:

[config]
verbose = yes

[files:z80]
hello.b

[libs]
libs/z80-cpm-b.lib

[link:release]
format = bin
text = 0x100
filename = hello.com

Build:

hcbuild hello.prj make release

Complete Documentation

Full documentation for all tools, the B language reference, REX format specification, and more is available at:

https://humbertocsjr.dev.br/hcsdk/

License

BSD 4-Clause License. See LICENSE for details.