Notes on Responsive Compilers by Nicholas Matsakis

Responsive Compilers

old compilers use to be about passes. lexer, etc.

A big shift in how IDEs work. Specifically the Language Server Protocol (LSP) released with the advent of VSCode

The "Responsive Compiler"

• Compiler as an actor
• Editor sends diffs and requests completions/diagnostics
• Compiler responds

Key Point: need to be able to respond asap

Salsa related work

• Separate inputs and derived stuff

  • derived stuff can track which inputs it uses, thus when inputs change we can propagate that

• "Adapton"

• Glimmer (from Ember web framework)

• Build systems a la carte (PDF)

Entity Component System (ECS)

ECS is an alternative to OOP mostly used in game programming. Separation of data and entity.

Ids for stuff

Use trees, not just numbers.