compiler.gd

gd is a compiler for the Go programming language that aggressively allocates on the stack. Intended to reduce GC-pressure in real-time graphics and to enable carefully designed programs to run with the GC turned off. Try it!

What's different?

1. Interfaces extended with 16 bytes of inline storage (directly store strings, slices and any numeric type).
2. Small string optimizations (up to 15 bytes inline or a hash for strings that are on the heap).
3. Runtime escape-analysis for dynamic dispatch (closures and interfaces).
4. Pointers returned from functions may be allocated on the stack (if they don't escape).
5. The go command embeds the standard library as well as asm, cgo, compile and link.

Does it work?

all.bash tests are currently passing on amd64. Support for arm64 and wasm is roadmapped.

How?

I directed the high level design and an LLM performed the implementation work. I have a deep understanding of the language but not a comprehensive understanding of the gc compiler, AI made it possible to explore a different set of compiler tradeoffs without significant time & attention cost (I have other things to do).

Contributing

Authentic individual contributions are a better fit for the upstream gc compiler at https://go.dev. If instead, you would like to contribute to this fork, AI or LLM assistance is recommended given how it is built. Please open/comment on an issue before opening any PRs so that any contention can be coordinated.