Kraid is a now a real compiler

4 days ago

Kraid, the new compiler for the Panfrost driver stack, now passes all 800,000 Vulkan CTS compute shader tests, surpassing the old compiler in a few areas.
Vertex and fragment shaders are still works in progress, and the generated code quality is intentionally poor to help identify bugs under high register pressure.
All major compiler components are in place, including an SSA-based register allocator, spiller, 64-bit support, swizzle handling, copy propagation, and 16-bit/8-bit destination support.
Future work includes writing optimization passes, fine-tuning the register allocator, refining boolean and 8-bit strategies, and completing vertex and fragment shader stages.
Fragment shaders present additional challenges due to BLEND and ATEST instructions with register allocation implications and the need for an ABI between main and blend shaders.

The author started with a raycaster benchmark to gauge Playdate's 3D performance, which initially seemed too slow.
The renderer loads Quake BSP map files, leveraging precomputed visibility and geometry to save runtime cost.
A 16-bit reciprocal z-buffer was added after the painter's algorithm proved insufficient.

Blender 5.2 LTS introduces a new Mesh Bevel node in Geometry Nodes for detailed procedural control over edges or vertices.
New node-based dynamics with built-in effectors for gravity and surface collision, including a tag-based filtering system for geometry interaction.
A brand new procedural approach to physics for hair and cloth simulations using Geometry Nodes.

Go 1.27 introduces type parameters on methods, allowing generic operations on types to be defined as methods instead of package-level functions.
Struct literal keys can now use promoted fields from embedded structs directly, simplifying initialization syntax.
Function type inference is generalized to work in conversions, composite literals, and other contexts, reducing the need for explicit type arguments.

LBSE was bootstrapped upstream from 2021 to 2022, adding support for SVG building blocks.
Work paused and resumed in 2023-2024 with Wix support, implementing advanced painting features like clipping and filters.
LBSE aims to share rendering machinery with HTML/CSS to inherit performance improvements, unlike the legacy SVG engine.

RADV is the open-source Mesa Vulkan driver for AMD GPUs, now the de facto Vulkan driver on Linux after AMD discontinued its proprietary alternative.
Porting RADV to Windows would enable a shared codebase across platforms, easier debugging, faster fixes, and community contributions benefiting all users.
Faith Ekstrand's initial work proved feasibility by reverse-engineering the WDDM2 interface, getting a 3D model to display, but with limitations.

The author started with a raycaster benchmark to gauge Playdate's 3D performance, which initially seemed too slow.
The renderer loads Quake BSP map files, leveraging precomputed visibility and geometry to save runtime cost.
A 16-bit reciprocal z-buffer was added after the painter's algorithm proved insufficient.

Blender 5.2 LTS introduces a new Mesh Bevel node in Geometry Nodes for detailed procedural control over edges or vertices.
New node-based dynamics with built-in effectors for gravity and surface collision, including a tag-based filtering system for geometry interaction.
A brand new procedural approach to physics for hair and cloth simulations using Geometry Nodes.

Go 1.27 introduces type parameters on methods, allowing generic operations on types to be defined as methods instead of package-level functions.
Struct literal keys can now use promoted fields from embedded structs directly, simplifying initialization syntax.
Function type inference is generalized to work in conversions, composite literals, and other contexts, reducing the need for explicit type arguments.

LBSE was bootstrapped upstream from 2021 to 2022, adding support for SVG building blocks.
Work paused and resumed in 2023-2024 with Wix support, implementing advanced painting features like clipping and filters.
LBSE aims to share rendering machinery with HTML/CSS to inherit performance improvements, unlike the legacy SVG engine.

RADV is the open-source Mesa Vulkan driver for AMD GPUs, now the de facto Vulkan driver on Linux after AMD discontinued its proprietary alternative.
Porting RADV to Windows would enable a shared codebase across platforms, easier debugging, faster fixes, and community contributions benefiting all users.
Faith Ekstrand's initial work proved feasibility by reverse-engineering the WDDM2 interface, getting a 3D model to display, but with limitations.

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