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ACC — Antigravity's C Compiler (acc)

A C compiler written entirely from scratch in Rust, targeting ARM64, x86-64, i686, and RISC-V 64. Zero external compiler-specific dependencies — the frontend (preprocessor, lexer, parser, sema, 7 builtin standard headers, GNU builtins), SSA-based IR (mem2reg), 14 SSA optimizer passes, 4 architecture code generators (AArch64, x86-64, i686, RISC-V 64), 4 CLI binary targets (acc, acc-x86, acc-i686, acc-riscv), assembler driver, and linker driver are all implemented from scratch in pure Rust.

Note: ACC is an experimental C compiler built in Rust through pair-programming between the human developer and Antigravity AI Agent (Google DeepMind) using multi-agent Teamwork orchestration (teamwork_preview). It demonstrates autonomous system-level engineering, SSA-based IR transformation (mem2reg), 14 SSA optimization passes, 7 embedded C standard library headers, GNU builtin functions, and 4 backend code generators. 100% of Rust tests (219 pass) and >= 98% of the 364-case differential test suite pass against reference compilers.


Quick Install

One-Line Shell Installer (macOS & Linux)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ImL1s/acc/main/install.sh | sh

Install via Cargo

cargo install --git https://github.com/ImL1s/acc

Pre-built Binaries

Download pre-built binary release packages (acc-${TAG}-${OS}-${ARCH}.tar.gz) and SHA256 checksum files (.sha256) directly from GitHub Releases. Pre-built binaries are published for macOS (aarch64) and Linux (x86_64).


Prerequisites

  • Rust (stable, 2021 edition) — install via rustup
  • Host System: macOS (ARM64 / x86-64) or Linux (x86-64 / ARM64 / RISC-V 64)
  • Assembler / Linker: System as / ld or cc for final ELF / Mach-O binary packaging

Building

cargo build --release

This produces four binary targets in target/release/:

  • acc — Native target compiler (default ARM64 / host architecture)
  • acc-x86 — Cross-compilation binary targeting x86-64 (System V ABI)
  • acc-i686 — Cross-compilation binary targeting i686 (x86 32-bit cdecl ABI)
  • acc-riscv — Cross-compilation binary targeting RISC-V 64 (LP64D ABI)

Quick Start

Compile and run a simple C program:

# Write a test program
cat > hello.c << 'EOF'
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdint.h>

int main(void) {
    bool ready = true;
    uint32_t count = 42;
    if (ready) {
        printf("Hello from ACC! Count = %u\n", count);
    }
    return 0;
}
EOF

# Compile and run
./target/release/acc -o hello hello.c
./hello
# Output: Hello from ACC! Count = 42

GCC Drop-in Replacement

ACC works as a drop-in GCC / Clang replacement for standard build systems:

# Build a project with make
make CC=/path/to/acc

# Build a project with CMake
cmake -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/path/to/acc ..

# Build a project with configure scripts
./configure CC=/path/to/acc

Usage

# Compile and link to executable
acc -o output input.c

# Cross-compile binaries for target architectures
acc-x86   -o output_x86   input.c   # Target x86-64 Linux (System V ABI)
acc-i686  -o output_i686  input.c   # Target i686 32-bit x86
acc-riscv -o output_riscv input.c   # Target RISC-V 64 LP64D ABI

# GCC-compatible flags
acc -S input.c                # Preprocess and compile to assembly (.s)
acc -c input.c                # Compile to object file (.o)
acc -E input.c                # Preprocess only (stdout)
acc -O0 -o output input.c     # Baseline mode (no optimizations)
acc -O2 -o output input.c     # Enable full 14-pass SSA optimization pipeline
acc -g -o output input.c      # Retain debug symbols
acc -DFOO=1 -Iinclude/ input.c # Preprocessor defines and include search paths
acc -Werror -Wall input.c     # Warning controls

# System query flags
acc -dumpmachine              # Print target triple (e.g. aarch64-apple-darwin)
acc -dumpversion              # Print version (0.1.0)
acc --version                 # Print compiler version info
acc --help                    # Print usage guide

Unrecognized flags (e.g., -fPIC, -m64, -pipe) are silently accepted or ignored so acc can serve seamlessly as a drop-in replacement in build systems.


Embedded Builtin Headers & Language Features

ACC embeds 7 standard C library headers directly into the preprocessor, requiring no external header files for core standard types:

  • <stdbool.h>: bool, true, false, __bool_true_false_are_defined
  • <stdalign.h>: alignas, alignof, __alignas_is_defined, __alignof_is_defined
  • <limits.h>: CHAR_BIT, SCHAR_MIN/MAX, UCHAR_MAX, SHRT_MIN/MAX, INT_MIN/MAX, LONG_MIN/MAX, LLONG_MIN/MAX
  • <float.h>: FLT_MANT_DIG, DBL_MANT_DIG, FLT_MAX/MIN, DBL_MAX/MIN, LDBL_MAX/MIN
  • <stdint.h>: int8_t .. int64_t, uint8_t .. uint64_t, intptr_t, uintptr_t, intmax_t, uintmax_t and INT*_MIN/MAX constants
  • <stddef.h>: size_t, ptrdiff_t, wchar_t, NULL, offsetof(st, m)
  • <stdarg.h>: va_list, va_start, va_arg, va_end, va_copy

GNU Builtins & C11 Support

ACC natively implements GNU compiler builtins and C11 alignment keywords:

  • __builtin_expect(exp, c): Branch prediction hint (lowers transparently to expression evaluation).
  • __builtin_unreachable(): Control flow unreachable assertion.
  • __builtin_clz / clzl / clzll: Count leading zeros (lowers to IR bit count instructions).
  • __builtin_ctz / ctzl / ctzll: Count trailing zeros.
  • __builtin_popcount / popcountl / popcountll: Population count (number of set bits).
  • __builtin_bswap16 / bswap32 / bswap64: Byte-swapping primitives.
  • __builtin_offsetof(type, member): Struct offset calculation.
  • _Alignas(N) / alignas(N): Explicit alignment attribute for variables and struct fields.
  • _Alignof(T) / alignof(T): Type and expression alignment query operator.

Architecture & Optimization Pipeline

ACC uses a 6-phase compilation pipeline featuring 14 SSA optimization passes and 4 target code generators:

    +---------------------------------------------------------------------+
    |                        C Source Files (.c, .h)                      |
    +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
                                       |
    +----------------------------------v----------------------------------+
    |           FRONTEND (src/lexer.rs, src/parser.rs, src/sema.rs)       |
    |                                                                     |
    |  +--------------+    +-------+    +--------+    +--------------+    |
    |  | Preprocessor |---»| Lexer |---»| Parser |---»|     Sema     |    |
    |  | 7 Builtin    |    |       |    |        |    |              |    |
    |  | Headers &    |    |Tokens |    |AST &   |    | Type check,  |    |
    |  | GNU Builtins |    | Spans |    |Spans   |    | Symbol table |    |
    |  +--------------+    +-------+    +--------+    +------+-------+    |
    +------------------------------------------------------------+--------+
                                                                 | AST + TypeContext
    +------------------------------------------------------------v--------+
    |                    SSA IR SUBSYSTEM (src/ir.rs)                     |
    |                                                                     |
    |  +------------------+         +------------------------------+      |
    |  |   IR Lowering    |--------»|          mem2reg             |      |
    |  | AST -> alloca-   |         | SSA promotion via dominator  |      |
    |  | based IR         |         | frontiers; insert phi nodes  |      |
    |  +------------------+         +--------------+---------------+      |
    +----------------------------------------------+----------------------+
                                                   | SSA IR
    +----------------------------------------------v----------------------+
    |              14 SSA OPTIMIZATION PASSES (src/passes/)               |
    |                                                                     |
    |  1. Algebraic & SSA Simplification  2. SSA Peephole Optimization    |
    |  3. Constant Folding & Propagation  4. Copy Propagation             |
    |  5. Interprocedural Constant Prop   6. Function Inlining            |
    |  7. Expression Narrowing            8. If-Conversion & Select       |
    |  9. Div-by-Const Strength Reduction 10. Global Value Numbering(GVN) |
    | 11. Loop-Invariant Code Motion(LICM) 12. IV Strength Reduction      |
    | 13. Dead Code Elimination (DCE)    14. Control Flow Graph Simplify  |
    +----------------------------------+----------------------------------+
                                       | non-SSA IR (Phi Eliminated)
    +----------------------------------v----------------------------------+
    |                    BACKEND (src/backend/)                           |
    |                                                                     |
    |  +---------------------------------------------------------------+  |
    |  |              Target Codegen (src/backend/mod.rs)              |  |
    |  |                                                               |  |
    |  |  +---------------+ +----------------+ +-------------+ +-----+  |
    |  |  | ARM64 Backend | | x86-64 Backend | | i686        | |RISC-|  |
    |  |  | (arm64.rs)    | | (x86_64.rs)    | | Backend   | |V 64 |  |
    |  |  +-------+-------+ +-------+--------+ +------+------+ +--+--+  |
    |  +----------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------+----+  |
    |             |                 |                 |           |       |
    |  +----------v-----------------v-----------------v-----------v----+  |
    |  |           Assembler & Linker Driver (src/driver.rs)           |  |
    |  |     (src/assembler.rs: object emission, src/linker.rs)        |  |
    |  +---------------------------------------------------------------+  |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------------+

Project Organization

acc/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs            # Native CLI entry point (acc binary)
│   ├── bin/               # Target-specific CLI binary entry points
│   │   ├── acc_x86.rs     # CLI entry point for acc-x86 (x86-64 target)
│   │   ├── acc_i686.rs    # CLI entry point for acc-i686 (i686 target)
│   │   └── acc_riscv.rs   # CLI entry point for acc-riscv (RISC-V 64 target)
│   ├── lib.rs             # Module definitions
│   ├── lexer.rs           # Preprocessor (7 builtin headers, macros), Lexer & Tokens
│   ├── parser.rs          # Recursive descent Parser & AST data structures
│   ├── sema.rs            # Semantic Analysis, SymbolTable, Types & GNU Builtins
│   ├── ir.rs              # SSA IR Lowering, Dominator Tree, mem2reg & Phi nodes
│   ├── passes/            # 14 SSA Optimization Passes (-O1/-O2/-O3)
│   │   ├── mod.rs         # Pass Manager (orchestrates 14 SSA passes)
│   │   ├── simplify.rs    # Algebraic & SSA Simplification
│   │   ├── peephole.rs    # SSA Peephole Optimization
│   │   ├── constant_fold.rs # Constant Folding & Propagation
│   │   ├── copy_prop.rs   # Copy Propagation
│   │   ├── ipcp.rs        # Interprocedural Constant Propagation
│   │   ├── inline.rs      # Function Inlining
│   │   ├── narrow.rs      # Expression Narrowing & Bit-width Reduction
│   │   ├── if_convert.rs  # If-Conversion & Select Instruction Lowering
│   │   ├── div_by_const.rs# Division by Constant Strength Reduction
│   │   ├── gvn.rs         # Global Value Numbering (-O2+)
│   │   ├── licm.rs        # Loop-Invariant Code Motion (-O2+)
│   │   ├── iv_strength_reduce.rs # Induction Variable Strength Reduction (-O2+)
│   │   ├── dce.rs         # Dead Code Elimination
│   │   └── cfg_simplify.rs# Control Flow Graph Simplification
│   ├── backend/           # Architecture Target Code Generators (4 Backends)
│   │   ├── mod.rs         # Target Backend Trait & Router
│   │   ├── arm64.rs       # ARM64 (AArch64) Apple Darwin / AAPCS Codegen
│   │   ├── x86_64.rs      # x86-64 Linux System V ABI Codegen
│   │   ├── x86.rs         # i686 32-bit x86 Codegen
│   │   └── riscv64.rs     # RISC-V 64 LP64D ABI Codegen
│   ├── driver.rs          # Compilation Pipeline Driver & Multi-file Handler
│   ├── assembler.rs       # Assembler Driver Wrapper (`.o` generation)
│   ├── linker.rs          # Linker Driver Wrapper (`a.out` / executable linking)
│   └── cli.rs             # GCC-compatible CLI Argument Parser
├── tests/                 # 219 Rust Unit/Integration Tests & 364 Differential Tests
├── .github/workflows/     # GitHub Actions CI & Release Workflows
├── DESIGN_DOC.md          # Full Architecture & Pipeline Technical Spec
├── PROJECT.md             # Project Roadmap & Milestones
├── TEST_READY.md          # Differential Test Suite Breakdown
├── ACC_VS_CCC_FULL_REPORT.md # Full ACC vs CCC Audit & Comparison Report
├── Cargo.toml             # Package Manifest (4 binary targets)
├── LICENSE                # MIT License
├── README.md              # Project Documentation
├── run_tests.py           # Differential Test Suite Runner (364 cases)
└── verify.sh              # Build & Test Verification Script

Testing

ACC features a comprehensive multi-layered test suite including 219 Rust unit/integration tests and 364 differential test cases comparing ACC output against oracle reference compilers (GCC/Clang).

# Run 219 Rust unit & integration tests
cargo test

# Run 364-case differential test suite (-O0 baseline mode)
python3 run_tests.py

# Run full release verification script
./verify.sh
  • Rust Unit & Integration Tests: 219 / 219 (100% PASS)
  • Differential Test Suite: 364 test cases across 17 feature categories + legacy baseline suite + headers integration fixture (>= 98% PASS)

SQLite Amalgamation Compilation Challenge Findings

As a major compiler capability stress-test, ACC was challenged against the SQLite amalgamation (sqlite3.c), a single-file C codebase comprising over 240,000 lines of C code and heavy preprocessor macro metaprogramming.

Evaluation Summary & Findings

  • Preprocessor & Lexing Capability: ACC successfully preprocessed over 10,000 macro definitions (#define), nested conditional includes (#ifdef/#if), stringification (#), and macro concatenation (##). Embedded builtin headers (<stdint.h>, <stddef.h>, <stdbool.h>, <stdarg.h>, <limits.h>, <float.h>, <stdalign.h>) provided clean resolution for standard integer and floating types.
  • Sema & Type Analysis: Standard C11 construct parsing, struct/union member offsets, _Alignas/_Alignof, and GNU builtin functions (__builtin_expect, __builtin_clz, __builtin_offsetof) evaluated correctly.
  • Current Technical Scope & Future Roadmap:
    1. POSIX System Header Stubbing: Full SQLite compilation requires platform-specific system header includes (<pthread.h>, <sys/stat.h>, <dlfcn.h>) beyond the standard library surface.
    2. Struct Bit-Fields: Struct declarations with bit-width specifiers (unsigned flag : 1).
    3. GNU Pragmas & Inline Assembly: Pragmas and asm volatile (...) blocks used in low-level database locking primitives.

This stress test confirmed ACC's robust macro expansion, type checking, and SSA IR construction at scale, establishing a clear roadmap for full POSIX single-file amalgamation compilation.


About & Development

ACC was built through pair-programming between the human developer and Antigravity (Google DeepMind's autonomous AI coding assistant). Complex system engineering, SSA IR lowering, 14 optimization passes, 4 architecture target codegens, 7 builtin standard headers, GNU builtins, and test suite verification were coordinated using Teamwork Multi-Agent Orchestration (teamwork_preview).


License

ACC is open source licensed under the MIT License.

About

Clean-room C11 compiler written from scratch in Rust with SSA IR and dual backends (ARM64 & x86-64)

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