Kefir: A new C17/C23 compiler for amd64 Unix
12 hours ago
- #C17-C23
- #compiler
- #open-source
- Kefir is an independent compiler for C17/C23 developed by Jevgenij Protopopov.
- Validated with 80 software projects including GNU coreutils, Curl, Nginx, OpenSSL, Perl, Postgresql, and Tcl.
- Targets x86_64 architecture and System-V AMD64 ABI, supporting Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD.
- Features include SSA-based optimization, debug info generation, position-independent code, and bit-identical bootstrap.
- Implements C17 and C23 standards (excluding _Decimal), with some GNU C extensions and inline assembly.
- Written in C11, independent of existing frameworks for preprocessing, parsing, optimization, or code generation.
- Extensively validated on real-world projects, compiling and running test suites.
- Supports DWARF5 debug info, AT&T/Intel syntaxes, and limited Yasm support.
- Licensed under GNU GPLv3 for the compiler and BSD-3 for runtime includes.
- Developed independently without external funding as a solo project.
- Named after a fermented milk drink with no other connotations intended.
- Distributed exclusively in source code form, with releases signed by the author's PGP key.
- Documentation includes a manual page in PDF format and a web playground for demonstration.
- Packages available in Arch Linux User Repository (AUR) and third-party repositories.
- Website content licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, with no tracking elements or third-party content.