Dual-path + emit-time legacy fallback are transitional scaffolding only; the VM
must reach parity at BOTH comptime sites (emit time AND lowering time), after
which the -Dcomptime-flat flag, the fallback, and interp.zig are all removed.
We do not ship both evaluators permanently.
The mutating compiler-API, minting types LAZILY at lowering time (single pass,
the existing runComptimeTypeFunc path — so the write side is legacy-only; the
VM isn't wired at lowering time, and the read-side readers stay dual-path):
declare_type(name) -> Type forward nominal handle (≈ declare)
pointer_to(t) -> Type build *T references
register_type(handle, kind, members) ONE kind-branching fill (≈ unified define)
register_type branches on kind IN THE COMPILER (subsuming define's per-kind
dispatch); codes match type_kind: 1 struct, 2 actual .@"enum", 3 tagged_union,
4 tuple. Members are {name: string, ty: Type}. A non-generic `-> Type` builder is
now flagged is_comptime (decl.zig) so its dead body permits the welded calls.
Graph support: forward declare_type handles + pointer_to express a mutually-
recursive A<->B graph (*A, *B, B-by-value) before bodies are filled. register_type
is idempotent — re-filling a nominal slot (a minting module reached via two import
edges) re-mints identically rather than erroring (nominalIdent reads identity from
any nominal kind).
Fixes (issue 0142):
- A fully payloadless comptime-minted enum was minted as an all-void tagged_union,
whose IR size disagrees with its LLVM size -> verifySizes panic. Now mints a real
.@"enum" (register_type kind 2 AND the metatype defineEnum).
- Bare `EnumType.variant` qualified construction of a payloadless variant wasn't
supported (failed for hand-written enums too — the type name lowered to a Type
value). Added in lowerFieldAccess via isPayloadlessVariant; payload-carrying
variants keep their call form.
Examples: 0631 (graph + actual enum + reflection), 0632 (make_enum all-void),
0633/0634/0635 (namespaced / bare / multi-edge import of a minted type), 0187
(qualified variant construction). Unit tests added.
Parity 697/697 (gate OFF and -Dcomptime-flat).
The last two read-only readers the metatype's type_info(T) needs, each backed by
a TypeTable query both the legacy handler and the VM call (no drift):
type_kind(t: TypeId) -> i64 (kindCode; stable discriminant, total — never bails)
type_field_value(t: TypeId, idx) -> i64 (memberValue; enum explicit value or ordinal)
kindCode codes (compiler-owned, stable): 0 other / 1 struct / 2 enum /
3 tagged_union / 4 tuple / 5 union / 6 array / 7 vector / 8 error_set.
With these, the READ side is complete: find_type + type_kind + type_field_count +
type_field_{name,type} + type_nominal_name + type_field_value cover everything
reflectTypeInfo reads — a comptime sx fn can fully reflect a struct/enum/tuple
into data with no #builtin.
Example 0630 reflects Color / WindowFlags(flags) / Point. VM unit test added.
Revised forward direction: the write side will be ONE register_type(info) fn that
branches on the kind in the compiler (subsuming define's per-kind dispatch), not a
per-kind register_struct.
Parity 691/691 (gate OFF and -Dcomptime-flat).
Three more read-only compiler-API readers on the TypeId-handle shape, each backed
by a new TypeTable query that both the legacy handler and the VM call (no drift):
type_nominal_name(t: TypeId) -> StringId (nominalName; loud-bail for unnamed types)
type_field_name(t: TypeId, idx: i64) -> StringId (memberName)
type_field_type(t: TypeId, idx: i64) -> TypeId (memberType)
All loud-bail on out-of-range idx / no-member — no silent default. First multi-arg
compiler fns (callCompilerFn now reads arg 1 = idx); added Vm.argHandle/argTypeId
range-checked arg readers and moved find_type/type_field_count onto them. Names use
the type_* family to avoid colliding with the std metatype builtins (field_name /
type_name in core.sx); the new TypeTable.nominalName is distinct from the existing
typeName(id) display-string renderer.
Example 0629 reflects Pair { lo: Point; hi: Point } — each field name + the nominal
name of a field's type, #run-folded, VM-HANDLED natively. VM unit test added.
Parity 690/690 (gate OFF and -Dcomptime-flat).
First read-only compiler-API reflection readers, bound the same way as the
intern/text_of seed (compiler_lib.bound_fns + Vm.callCompilerFn, native on flat
memory, no marshaling). A type handle is a plain u32 TypeId (like StringId), so
both stay clean scalar host-calls:
find_type(name: StringId) -> TypeId (TypeTable.findByName; unresolved/0 if absent)
type_field_count(t: TypeId) -> i64 (new TypeTable.memberCount; loud-bail, no silent 0)
memberCount is the single source both the legacy handler and the VM read, so the
two paths can't drift. find_type returns a non-optional TypeId using the
unresolved(0) sentinel for not-found rather than ?Type — a Type value is
.any-typed (which the flat-memory VM does not represent) and an optional can't
cross the legacy<->VM eval boundary; unresolved is the project-blessed "no type"
marker.
Example 0628 chains intern -> find_type -> type_field_count (+ a not-found
lookup), folded at #run, VM-HANDLED natively. VM unit test added.
Parity 689/689 (gate OFF and -Dcomptime-flat).
Phase 1.final of the flat-memory comptime VM — wire the host through it,
reach corpus parity, and gate it behind a build flag — plus the first
Phase 3 (compiler-API) step. Default OFF; legacy interpreter unchanged.
Host wiring + hardening:
- Machine accessors return error.OutOfBounds (no debug panic) on bad
addresses; Frame.get/set bounds-check and bail (no panic) on a malformed
operand ref (e.g. a ret Ref.none from an unresolved name).
- tryEval routed at both comptime call sites in emit_llvm — the const-init
fold and the #run side-effect path — with per-eval legacy fallback;
yields .void_val for void/noreturn entries. Both sites sx_trace_clear()
before the legacy fallback so a partial VM run that pushed trace frames
doesn't double-push on re-run.
VM coverage (all corpus const-inits except the inline-asm global):
- Implicit context materialized from the __sx_default_context global; the
full allocator protocol runs on the VM (context.allocator.alloc ->
call_indirect -> CAllocator thunk -> libc_malloc -> native flat malloc).
- Native libc memory builtins (malloc/calloc/free/memcpy/memmove/memset)
on flat memory; f32 stored/loaded as the 4-byte single; signed sub-64-bit
loads sign-extended; global_get (lazy + memoized); func_ref/call_indirect
(func-ref encoded fid+1, 0 reserved for null); string/slice fat-pointer
field access; is_comptime; the failable/error cluster (error_set tuples,
trace_frame + native sx_trace_push/clear -> raise/catch/or + return traces).
Build flag + Phase 3 seed:
- -Dcomptime-flat (build_opts module) OR SX_COMPTIME_FLAT env enables the VM;
zig build test -Dcomptime-flat runs the full corpus on the VM (688/0).
- intern/text_of serviced natively on flat memory via Vm.callCompilerFn
(compiler_welded boundary) — the seed the rest of the compiler-API grows on.
Parity 688/688 gate ON and OFF. Unit tests added throughout. The
lowering-time #insert wiring was explored and reverted (lowering-time IR can
be malformed; full malformed-IR hardening is a prerequisite, deferred).
The byte-weld (sx structs whose layout was validated to mirror the
compiler's Zig records) plus the serialization/marshaling bridge was the
wrong direction: it bolted a parallel layout regime and hand-built
byte-copies onto a comptime value model that fundamentally isn't bytes.
Strip the struct-weld machinery:
- compiler_lib.zig loses the type registry (weldStruct / bound_types /
BoundType / FieldLayout / findType / SxField / LayoutMismatch /
validateStructLayout); it is now just the intern/text_of function
host-call bridge (kept as the Phase-3 compiler-call seed).
- nominal.zig loses validateWeldedStruct / weldedFieldOrderStr + the
sd.abi == .zig validation call.
- Remove the struct-weld unit tests and examples 0625/0627 (welded
structs) + 1183/1186 (weld-layout diagnostics).
- The #library / abi / extern syntax stays.
Record the new direction: a bytecode VM over flat, byte-addressable
memory so comptime values are native bytes (no weld/validation/marshal),
target-aware (preserves cross-compilation) and sandboxed. See
current/PLAN-COMPILER-VM.md (Phase 0 strip -> Phase 1 flat-memory value
model -> Phase 2 bytecode -> Phase 3 compiler-API on flat memory).
design/comptime-compiler-api.md gets a SUPERSEDED banner. Also drop the
"~500 lines / split the step" rule from CLAUDE.md.
