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sinuhe69 6 hours ago [-]
Did the author really believe the LLM made the compiler by itself and not distilled (copied) from other compilers?
ganelonhb 3 hours ago [-]
All knowledge is distilled from prior knowledge. I don’t think it matters what the author thinks or doesn’t think. The world is different than the one you knew now.
helpprotactiniu 11 hours ago [-]
How did you handle the various optimizations and CPU architectures? compilers are notoriously easy to build but hard to optimize and maintain.
temo_pacheco 10 hours ago [-]
On optimization I deliberately aimed low: a small set of passes, nothing beyond what I could prove. Everything is verified against clang/gcc output on real software rather than against my own expectations, and the compiler compiles itself and reproduces itself bit-for-bit, so it's its own regression test. In practice the generated code holds up fine — DOOM runs smoothly, so do Lua. I chose provable correctness over speed; optimization is the least finished part of the project and there's real work left there.
gomoboo 7 hours ago [-]
I vouched for you here because this compiler is interesting to me and I'd like to see some discussion on it. All your comments are listed as 'dead' though. Likely because they seem to be LLM-generated. Maybe writing by hand or noting you're using an LLM for translation (if you are) would help.
avadodin 7 hours ago [-]
The post probably should have been show HN too being posted by the author himself. I don't know all of the rules but perhaps it would be better for engagement if you reposted the project for him.
I was looking for a timeline given the title. Oldest path seems to be 3 months ago so $300 and 3 months? That could buy you a second-hand graphics card to run the current batch of local models.
temo_pacheco 1 hours ago [-]
I used my $100-per-month Cloud Code subscription. It was enough to build the compiler from scratch. Although the subscription also allowed me to work on other projects simultaneously, the methodology optimizes resource usage—an important aspect to demonstrate as well. That is why I chose to create a C compiler.
avadodin 1 hours ago [-]
Don't get me wrong. I'm here because I'm interested as well.
- Wall clock time is three months(?)
- Cost $300 possibly shared by other projects(Does CC provide credits or a token measure?)
- How much of your own time was spent interacting with Claude and/or thinking in parallel to his work?
- Did the service go down during those three months(including subpar service by a substitute "flash" model)?
temo_pacheco 31 minutes ago [-]
Yes, it involved seven weeks of work using Claude Code sessions—from July 25 to September 14, as indicated by the repository commits.
The total cost was simply the recurring monthly subscription fee. I wasn't granted any extra credits by CC; although I occasionally hit my weekly usage limit—partly due to consumption from other projects—I would simply wait a few hours before resuming work.
I spent six to eight hours a day interacting with the session, and whenever I had the time, I dedicated even more hours to it, as my goal was to get the job done. During the final days, much of the time was spent waiting for regression tests to pass so I could proceed with debugging.
The service remained active throughout the entire seven-week period. I consistently used Opus 4.8 to maintain model consistency during development.
avadodin 24 minutes ago [-]
That provides a much clearer picture, thank you.
temo_pacheco 1 hours ago [-]
I tried to post as "Show HN", but HN restricts Show HN for new accounts.
temo_pacheco 1 hours ago [-]
I am using an LLM solely to help improve my translation. The compiler works, and the code explains it very well. We can discuss the compiler and the method I used to create it with the help of AI.
I was looking for a timeline given the title. Oldest path seems to be 3 months ago so $300 and 3 months? That could buy you a second-hand graphics card to run the current batch of local models.
- Wall clock time is three months(?)
- Cost $300 possibly shared by other projects(Does CC provide credits or a token measure?)
- How much of your own time was spent interacting with Claude and/or thinking in parallel to his work?
- Did the service go down during those three months(including subpar service by a substitute "flash" model)?
The total cost was simply the recurring monthly subscription fee. I wasn't granted any extra credits by CC; although I occasionally hit my weekly usage limit—partly due to consumption from other projects—I would simply wait a few hours before resuming work.
I spent six to eight hours a day interacting with the session, and whenever I had the time, I dedicated even more hours to it, as my goal was to get the job done. During the final days, much of the time was spent waiting for regression tests to pass so I could proceed with debugging.
The service remained active throughout the entire seven-week period. I consistently used Opus 4.8 to maintain model consistency during development.