Simple Compiler in Zig

A multi-pass, multi-architecture compiler for a subset of the C language, implemented in Zig. This project targets macOS on both Intel (x86_64) and Apple Silicon (ARM64).

Features

• Language Constructs: Integers (int), Characters (char), void functions, Structs, Enums, and typedef.
• Control Flow: if/else, while, for, do-while, switch/case, break, and continue.
• Operators: Arithmetic (prefix/postfix), bitwise, comparison, logical, and ternary (? :).
• Memory: Support for pointers (&, *), arrays, and global variables.
• Architectures: Code generation for ARM64 and x86_64 (macOS).
• Optimization: Constant folding at the AST level.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Zig: Version 0.13.0 or 0.14.0 (for best compatibility).
• macOS: Target system for assembly and linking.

Building the Compiler

Run the following command to build the project:

zig build

The compiled binary will be located in zig-out/bin/compiler.

Compiling and Running a Program

To compile a .simple source file (a subset of C) into an executable:

# Compile to ARM64 assembly (default)
./zig-out/bin/compiler --arch arm64 examples/arithmetic.simple

# Assemble and link the generated out.asm
mv out.asm out.s
clang -arch arm64 -o my_app out.s

# Run the app
./my_app
echo "Exit code: $?"

Running Tests

To run the automated test suite, which verifies 26 test cases across both supported architectures:

./test.sh

Documentation

For a detailed language specification and usage guide, see DOCUMENTATION.md.

For a deep dive into the system architecture and internal design, see ARCHITECTURE.md.

License

MIT