Are there any C# to C converter tools?

Question

I know C# is different from .NET Framework, C# is a programming language that standard by ECMA (ECMA-334) and ISO (ISO/IEC 23270).

I don't want a converter that converts ANY C# source code (including .NET Framework) to C, but I want a tool that converts an ECMA standard C# source code to ANSI C source code.

Something like java2c but for ECMA C#.

Not that I am aware of. The biggest problem is that you would need a C library with the same API as the .NET framework... — Daniel Hilgarth, Dec 05 '11 at 12:55
@DanielHilgarth: No, I don't want .NET Framework library for converting. — Amir Saniyan, Dec 05 '11 at 12:57
C# can be used on Linux, iOs, Mac, Windows, XBox and Android (most of the non windows provided by Mono and the different Ximian products). Do you need something outside of these? — Oded, Dec 05 '11 at 12:58
@oded: Image that write an application with C#, convert it to ANSI C, compile for AVR :) — Amir Saniyan, Dec 05 '11 at 13:01
Have you looked at the [.NET micro framework](http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/netmf/default.aspx)? — Oded, Dec 05 '11 at 13:06
Questions asking for: books, libraries, tutorials, [tools are off-topic](https://stackoverflow.com/help/on-topic) and should be closed. — sɐunıɔןɐqɐp, Jun 09 '18 at 13:14

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 05 '11 at 20:22

There is not exactly such thing, but the Vala programming language is able to take a source code very similar to C#, and generate C codem or compile it directly.

http://live.gnome.org/Vala

Of course, the only problem are the libraries: C# has a lot of API's that you'll have to provide, or modify your source code to adapt to the Vala standard library.

If you wanted to translate this code to C because you need it compiled, there are other possibilities.

For example, ngen in the microsoft world:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/6t9t5wcf(v=vs.80).aspx

In the mono project, you can create a single exe file with the interpreter and the libraries. Look for mkbundle:

http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:Runtime

Mono is able to compile "ahead of time", i.e., generate the native code even before the program is going to be executed, so it will run faster.

http://www.mono-project.com/Mono:Runtime#Ahead-of-time_compilation

I found this, not sure how it would do: https://cscpp.codeplex.com/ — Robert Cutajar, Aug 03 '14 at 09:53
Seems interesting, though it compiles to "managed" C++, i.e., C++ using the BCL, not ISO C++. If that fits your needs, then it is great. — Baltasarq, Aug 08 '14 at 16:22

Anderson Green · Answer 2 · 2019-04-08T18:41:19.087

As a proof-of-concept, I wrote a tool called universal-transpiler that converts a small subset of C# into C and several other languages.

For example, it can translate this function from C# to C:

public static double distance_formula(double x1,double y1,double x2,double y2){
    return Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(x1-x2,2)+Math.Pow(y2-y1,2));
}

This is the equivalent C code that the translator would generate:

double distance_formula(double x1,double y1,double x2,double y2){
    return sqrt(pow(x1-x2,2)+pow(y2-y1,2));
}

I have not found any other C#-to-C compilers, but there is a C#-to-Lua compiler that could be combined with a Lua-to-C compiler to generate C source code.

It might also be possible to compile C# into WebAssembly using the Blazor compiler and then decompile it into C source code using wasm2c.

score -1 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 09 '18 at 12:54

-1

Depends on what you mean. If you mean "Is it possible to convert C# to readable and maintainable C-code?", then sorry, the answer is no — C# features don't directly map to C.

edited Jun 09 '18 at 12:54

Zoe stands with Ukraine

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answered Jun 09 '18 at 12:50

Young Developers

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(This post does not seem to provide a [quality answer](https://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-answer) to the question. Please either edit your answer, or just post it as a comment to the question). – sɐunıɔןɐqɐp Jun 09 '18 at 13:15
If could post as comment would do it. But as see I new here so don't have that option. I want add comment it not easy make readable code when convert from C# to C. have not right do so had make answer instead. I have use tools my self for this. It compiling code but not easy maintain. – Young Developers Jun 09 '18 at 13:26

Are there any C# to C converter tools?

3 Answers3

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