mSec Clock Tick, off a timer interrupt
CodeArchitect and AFIRC Config2

I came across two "configuration" programs, aiming at helping '51 derivatives development - CodeArchitect by ESA for the NXP LPC9xx, and DAvE by Infineon for their XC8xx and Config2 bt SILabs for their 8051fxxx.

Config2 WILL generate assembly if you ask.

The problem with your idea is that, while it would have been relatively easy in the days when a '51 was a '51. Now, for instance, what will be the worth of a bit-banged IIC, any sane person will select a derivative with HW IIC.

I would, were I to make and publish something like you, start with making e.g. a PCA configurator, then a HW IIC configurator, then .... and eventually integrate them.

The coice you will hit again and again is 'flexibility vs usefulness'

If you e.g. come up with a PCA configurator where everyting about the particular PCA in a particular chip has to be described before the configurator runs, it will be far faster just to code from scratch.

Re assembly code: a losing proposition, assembly (whether you like it or not) is used less and less, If you go the SILabs way and offer a choice, that might be adavantageous.

I just come to think of there is, indeed a configurator that would help many:
The poor sods, that have no idea what a cjne is or does, have enormous problems with the XDATA etc initialization that must be done in Startup.a51 (or the SDCC/IAR/... equivalent) for the compiled code initialization to work.

Erik