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Show HN: Optimizing compiler for a large subset of C, written in Rust (github.com)

11 points by xqb64 ↗ HN
Hello.

I wanted to share what I had been working on for the past couple of months or so. It's an optimizing C compiler for a large subset of the C programming language written in Rust. It's basically a Rust implementation of the C compiler from Nora Sandler's book[1].

It has been a great educational exercise and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone.

[1]: https://nostarch.com/writing-c-compiler

6 comments

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lutusp
It's my hope that people will take the hint: "Wait ... if Rust is a better way to compile C than C itself, maybe I should learn Rust."
kif
I've tried Rust, and it's just too much cognitive overhead. C is simple, and that simplicity is hard to beat. Go on the other hand is more like C in that regard.
hu3
Currently, that would be Zig.
yjftsjthsd-h
What makes you think Rust is a better way to compile C than C?
fanf2
Algebraic data types
unclad5968
Rust itself is compiled with LLVM which is millions of lines of C++. Does that mean that C++ is better than rust?