Skip to content

v0.2.0

Latest
Latest

Choose a tag to compare

View all tags
@IMisbahk IMisbahk released this 25 Apr 19:29
v0.2.0
f308e2f

Rey v0.2.0 — Native Compiler (Self-Hosted)

Released: 2026-04-24
Platform: macOS arm64

What's in this release

rey-macos-arm64 is the native Rey compiler — compiled from Rey source code itself, without the Rust interpreter in the critical path.

This is the first release where the compiler is built from its own source (rey-compiler/main.rey) using the LLVM backend, producing real native binaries via clang.

How to use

# Build a Rey program
./rey-macos-arm64 <path/to/main.rey> build <your-program.rey>

# Run (compile + execute)
./rey-macos-arm64 <path/to/main.rey> run <your-program.rey>

The first argument is the compiler's own source path (used to locate the runtime library). For a clean setup, use the reyc launcher from the repo root which handles this automatically.

What changed since v0.1.0

LLVM backend (new)

A full LLVM IR emitter was added under rey-compiler/. Programs now compile to native machine code via:

.rey source → Lexer → Parser → LLVM IR emitter → clang → native binary

C runtime library

A C runtime (rey-compiler/runtime/) implements all heap operations:

  • Strings — heap-allocated, length-prefixed UTF-8 (rey_str_*)
  • Vec — dynamic arrays with push/pop/get/set/map/filter/join (rey_vec_*)
  • HashMap — string-keyed hash maps (rey_hm_*)
  • Result / Option — tagged union values (rey_ok, rey_err, rey_some, rey_none)
  • IO — readFile, writeFile, fileExists, listDir, exec
  • Process — args, exit, exec

Self-hosting

The compiler compiles itself. Phase H complete:

  • rey-compiler/main.rey compiled to native binary by rey-v0 (Rust bootstrap)
  • Native binary passes all e2e tests identically to the Rust-hosted compiler

Value representation

All Rey values are i64 in LLVM IR:

  • Scalars (int, bool, float) — stored directly
  • Heap values (String, Vec, HashMap, struct, Result, Option) — pointer cast to i64
  • Struct header: 16-byte prefix with a type tag byte for instanceof checks

Known limitations

  • macOS arm64 only — no Windows or Linux binary yet
  • No garbage collector — arena allocation, freed at process exit (correct for short-lived compiler processes)
  • No closures over mutable state — lambdas are lifted to top-level functions
  • Typechecker is a stub — type inference works but full static type checking is not enforced
  • Self-compile crashes — the native compiler can compile all e2e fixtures but panics on its own complex source (remaining type-annotation gaps in codegen)

Verified tests

All e2e fixtures pass under the native compiler:

Test Status
hello ✅
math ✅
loops ✅
functions ✅
structs ✅
enums ✅
strings ✅
vec ✅
collections ✅
io ✅
imports ✅

Bootstrap chain

rey-v0 (Rust)  →  rey-compiler/main.rey  →  rey-macos-arm64

The Rust interpreter remains in the repo as a reference implementation and fallback. It is not required to run compiled programs.

Assets 3
Loading