Cranelift Compiler

Brilift is a ahead-of-time or just-in-time compiler from Bril to native code using the Cranelift code generator. It supports core Bril, floating point, and the memory extension.

In AOT mode, Brilift emits .o files and also provides a simple run-time library. By linking these together, you get a complete native executable. In JIT mode, Brilift mimics an interpreter.

Build

Brilift is a Rust project using the bril-rs library. You can build it using Cargo:

$ cd brilift
$ cargo run -- --help
$ cargo install --path .  # If you want the executable on your $PATH.

Ahead-of-Time Compilation

Provide the brilift executable with a Bril JSON program:

$ bril2json < something.bril | brilift

By default, Brilift produces a file bril.o. (You can pick your own output filename with -o something.o; see the full list of options below.)

A complete executable will also need our runtime library, which is in rt.c. There is a convenient Makefile rule to produce rt.o:

$ make rt.o

Then, you will want to link rt.o and bril.o to produce an executable:

$ cc bril.o rt.o -o myprog

If your Bril @main function takes arguments, those are now command-line arguments to the myprog executable.

Just-in-Time Compilation

Use the -j flag to compile and run the program immediately:

$ bril2json < something.bril | brilift -j

Pass any arguments to the Bril @main function as command-line arguments to Brilift. For example, if you have a function @main(foo: int, bar: bool), you can type brilift -j 42 true.

Options

Type brilift --help to see the full list of options:

  • -j: JIT-compile the code and run it immediately, instead of AOT-compiling an object file (the default).
  • -O [none|speed|speed_and_size]: An optimization level, according to Cranelift. The default is none.
  • -v: Enable lots of logging from the Cranelift library.
  • -d: Dump the Cranelift IR text for debugging.

These options are only relevant in AOT mode:

  • -o <FILE>: Place the output object file in <FILE> instead of bril.o (the default).
  • -t <TARGET>: Specify the target triple, as interpreted by Cranelift. These triples resemble the target triples that LLVM also understands, for example. For instance, x86_64-unknown-darwin-macho is the triple for macOS on Intel processors.