CuriousX: A Miniature Compiler

CuriousX is a modern compiler that translates a C++-like language into WebAssembly. Built for educational purposes, it demonstrates fundamental compiler concepts through a practical implementation.

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Features

Language Support

• Data Types
  • Integers and Floating-point numbers
  • Strings (basic support)
  • Booleans
• Operations
  • Arithmetic: +, -, *, /
  • Comparison: ==, !=, <=, >=, >,<
• Control Flow
  • If-else statements
  • Basic blocks
• Functions
  • Built-in print() function
  • Variable declarations and assignments

Compiler Pipeline

1. Lexical Analysis
   • Token generation
   • Source location tracking
   • Comment handling
2. Syntax Analysis
   • AST generation
   • Operator precedence
   • Error recovery
3. Semantic Analysis
   • Type checking
   • Scope analysis
   • Symbol table management
4. Code Generation
   • WebAssembly text format output
   • Optimization passes
   • Runtime support

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• C++17 compatible compiler
• CMake 3.25 or higher
• Emscripten (for WebAssembly compilation)
• Git for version control

Building the Project

Standard Build (Native)

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/jnyfah/CuriousX.git
cd CuriousX

# Create build directory and build
mkdir build
cmake -B build -S .
cmake --build build

WebAssembly Build

NB: Make sure emscripten is active before building

# Configure with Emscripten
mkdir build
emcmake cmake -B build -S .

# Build
cmake --build build

# Start local server
emrun CompilerEditor/index.html

Usage Examples

Basic Arithmetic

x = 42
y = x + 8
if (y > 0) {
    print("Positive")
} else {
    print("Non-positive")
}

Output Examples

Lexical Analysis

Newline             line:1, col:26           [\n]
VarToken            line:2, col:1            [x]
AssignToken         line:2, col:3            [=]
IntToken            line:2, col:5            [42]

Abstract Syntax Tree

     =
    / \
   x   42

Generated WebAssembly

i32.const 42
local.set 0    ;; x = 42
local.get 0
call $print    ;; print(x)

Project Structure

CuriousX/
├── CompilerUtils/    # Utility classes and helpers
├── CuriousX/        # Core compiler implementation
│   ├── Lexer/       # Lexical analysis
│   ├── Parser/      # Syntax analysis
│   ├── Semantic/    # Semantic analysis
│   └── Generation/  # Code generation
├── tests/          # Unit and integration tests
└── CompilerEditor/ # Web interface

Testing

The project includes comprehensive tests for each compiler component:

# Build with tests enabled
cmake -B build -DBUILD_TESTS=ON
cmake --build build

# Run tests
cd build && ctest -C Debug -V

Further Reading

• Lexer Design Documentation
• Grammar Design Documentation
• SEmantic Design
• WebAssembly Output Format