| Filename | Latest commit message | Latest commit date |
|---|---|---|
72e96a3f71
CI has failed since the embed merge (2026-10-25): - Linux: bootstrap/build.sh asks llvm-config for the folder with clang-c/Index.h - macOS: FINCH_LIBCLANG's -L folders also go to the compiler's own link "clang" - Windows: the language server turns file:///C:/x into C:/x and back (diagnostics went to /C:/x); the -g tests compare without \r; shared.sh (dlopen, -rdynamic) is not run there Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_016GzNP6r8dg6WDxUVZy8wjL |
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| .. | ||
| build.sh | ||
| install.sh | ||
| linux-aarch64.ll | ||
| linux-x86_64.ll | ||
| macos-arm64.ll | ||
| macos-x86_64.ll | ||
| pack.sh | ||
| README.md | ||
| winbuild.sh | ||
| windows-x86_64.ll | ||
| winseed.sh | ||
The seed
Finch's compiler is written in Finch. To build it you need something that already runs Finch: the seed, which is the compiler's own LLVM IR, one file per system:
| File | System | Checked |
|---|---|---|
linux-x86_64.ll |
Linux x86-64 | built and tested here and in CI |
linux-aarch64.ll |
Linux ARM64 | made with the ARM64 cross compiler; CI builds and tests it on an ARM64 runner |
windows-x86_64.ll |
Windows x86-64 (MinGW: llvm-mingw's clang + libclang.dll) | built and run under Wine: it compiles itself, and every test program runs |
macos-arm64.ll, macos-x86_64.ll |
macOS | made on Linux with the macOS 11.3 SDK; checked as IR only (nobody has run them yet) |
bootstrap/build.sh compiles the seed with clang (and the runtime, and libclang) into build/finch0; finch0 builds
src/ into finch1; finch1 builds src/ again into build/finch; the two must make the same IR, or the script stops.
Why one per system
The seed includes how this system's C compiler passes structs by value, because the compiler calls libclang with
CXCursor, CXType and CXString (the calling convention is different on x86-64, on ARM64 and on Windows). So a seed
made for one system doesn't run on another, and a seed needs the target system's C headers to be made.
When to make a new one
When the compiler's own source starts to use a feature that the committed seed doesn't have, build.sh fails at the first
step. Make the seed from a working compiler:
bootstrap/build.sh seed # writes bootstrap/<this system>.ll
For another system, from a machine that has that system's headers and a cross compiler (what tests/cross.sh uses):
FINCH_CC=aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc build/finch ir src/main.fch --target arm64 > bootstrap/linux-aarch64.ll
Windows and macOS
Windows: windows-x86_64.ll is made by bootstrap/winseed.sh on Linux (llvm-mingw's MinGW headers and the headers of an
official LLVM for Windows); bootstrap/winbuild.sh turns it into finch.exe for trying under Wine. On a Windows machine
bootstrap/build.sh does the same from Git Bash: put llvm-mingw's bin in PATH and set FINCH_LIBCLANG (the path of
libclang.dll), FINCH_LLVM_INCLUDE (its include folder) and FINCH_LDFLAGS=-L<folder of libclang.dll>.
macOS: the seeds were made with the macOS 11.3 SDK; brew install llvm@21 gives clang and libclang; the CI job sets
FINCH_CLANG, FINCH_LIBCLANG and FINCH_LLVM_INCLUDE. If the macOS build fails, that job is where it shows first.