LWN.net provides exclusive content to subscribers, offering insights into the Linux and free software communities. Cranelift, part of the Wasmtime runtime for WebAssembly, aims to generate code faster by prioritizing essential optimizations. Unlike many JIT compilers, Cranelift’s generic architecture allows for use beyond WebAssembly. The project focuses on speed of compilation rather than the produced code’s speed, potentially making it valuable for various applications. While optimizations are based on equality graphs, extracting the most efficient representation remains a challenge. Cranelift’s compatibility with Rust as an alternate backend has shown promising improvements in compile times. Overall, Cranelift presents a unique approach in the world of compiler design.
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