Is there a tool to convert ANSI C code to C#?

Question

I need to import some ANSI C code into a project I'm working on. For reasons I prefer not to go into, I want to refactor the code to C# rather than trying to wrap the original code. It will take me perhaps a couple of days to do the work by hand, but before I start, is there an automated tool that can get me most of the way there? I'm a cheapskate and the work I'm doing is pro bono, so free tools only please.

Answer 1

Around here, we call them graduate students. :-)

Answer 2

Setting up, cleaning up, refactoring, and just plain making converted code (if there is even a converter available) would probably be something in the magnitude of weeks or months, so you'll be better served just to go ahead with the manual rewrite.

Answer 3

If manual refactoring is "only" going to take a few days, that would get my vote. Depending on what the C code is doing and how it is written (pointers, custom libraries, etc.) an automated converter may just make a mess. And untangling that mess could be a larger task than just converting by hand.

Answer 4

There is an experimental CLI Back-End and Front-End for GCC. It is already capable of compiling a subset of C programs into CIL, the byte-code that the CLR runs.

(The webpage makes it seem like the code was only developed over a few months and then ignored since then, but it's out of date; ST Microelectronics is continuing maintenance and development.)

You don't specify why you want a C to C# translator, but if you just want to get C and C# to play together without P/Invoke or COM, it might be good enough.

Answer 5

It may make sense to start by getting the existing code to compile as managed C++ aka C++/CLI. Assuming that went smoothly enough, then you have a working, testable foundation on which to build. Move key features to their own classes, and as needed, rewrite as C# along the way.