rust/compiler/rustc_codegen_cranelift
bors ed43cbcb88 Auto merge of #134299 - RalfJung:remove-start, r=compiler-errors
remove support for the (unstable) #[start] attribute

As explained by `@Noratrieb:`
`#[start]` should be deleted. It's nothing but an accidentally leaked implementation detail that's a not very useful mix between "portable" entrypoint logic and bad abstraction.

I think the way the stable user-facing entrypoint should work (and works today on stable) is pretty simple:
- `std`-using cross-platform programs should use `fn main()`. the compiler, together with `std`, will then ensure that code ends up at `main` (by having a platform-specific entrypoint that gets directed through `lang_start` in `std` to `main` - but that's just an implementation detail)
- `no_std` platform-specific programs should use `#![no_main]` and define their own platform-specific entrypoint symbol with `#[no_mangle]`, like `main`, `_start`, `WinMain` or `my_embedded_platform_wants_to_start_here`. most of them only support a single platform anyways, and need cfg for the different platform's ways of passing arguments or other things *anyways*

`#[start]` is in a super weird position of being neither of those two. It tries to pretend that it's cross-platform, but its signature is  a total lie. Those arguments are just stubbed out to zero on ~~Windows~~ wasm, for example. It also only handles the platform-specific entrypoints for a few platforms that are supported by `std`, like Windows or Unix-likes. `my_embedded_platform_wants_to_start_here` can't use it, and neither could a libc-less Linux program.
So we have an attribute that only works in some cases anyways, that has a signature that's a total lie (and a signature that, as I might want to add, has changed recently, and that I definitely would not be comfortable giving *any* stability guarantees on), and where there's a pretty easy way to get things working without it in the first place.

Note that this feature has **not** been RFCed in the first place.

*This comment was posted [in May](https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/29633#issuecomment-2088596042) and so far nobody spoke up in that issue with a usecase that would require keeping the attribute.*

Closes https://github.com/rust-lang/rust/issues/29633

try-job: x86_64-gnu-nopt
try-job: x86_64-msvc-1
try-job: x86_64-msvc-2
try-job: test-various
2025-01-21 19:46:20 +00:00
..
.github Merge commit '918acafef682d0d0ca30b47de4768210417ff362' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-05 2025-01-05 15:44:46 +00:00
.vscode Merge commit '3e50cf65025f96854d6597e80449b0d64ad89589' into sync_cg_clif-2024-01-26 2024-01-26 18:33:45 +00:00
.zed Merge commit '69b3f5a426a5c1c05236a45b36f6679d95fbe01b' into sync_cg_clif-2024-08-09 2024-08-09 17:18:46 +00:00
build_system Merge commit 'e39eacd2d415803ef82de3b6a314e4f2d0fbc4dc' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-10 2025-01-10 09:02:07 +00:00
docs Merge commit 'fbda869b4e230c788b6bce426038ba8419956f2d' into sync_cg_clif-2024-04-05 2024-04-05 16:20:23 +00:00
example Merge commit 'e39eacd2d415803ef82de3b6a314e4f2d0fbc4dc' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-10 2025-01-10 09:02:07 +00:00
patches Update compiler-builtins to 0.1.143 2025-01-15 04:02:19 +00:00
scripts Merge commit '728bc27f32c05ac8a9b5eb33fd101e479072984f' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-20 2025-01-20 15:30:04 +00:00
src Auto merge of #134299 - RalfJung:remove-start, r=compiler-errors 2025-01-21 19:46:20 +00:00
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.gitattributes Merge commit '5988bbd24aa87732bfa1d111ba00bcdaa22c481a' into sync_cg_clif-2020-11-27 2020-11-27 20:48:53 +01:00
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Cargo.lock Merge commit 'e39eacd2d415803ef82de3b6a314e4f2d0fbc4dc' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-10 2025-01-10 09:02:07 +00:00
Cargo.toml Merge commit 'e39eacd2d415803ef82de3b6a314e4f2d0fbc4dc' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-10 2025-01-10 09:02:07 +00:00
clean_all.sh Merge commit '6d35b4c9a04580366fd800692a5b5db79d766530' into sync_cg_clif-2024-09-22 2024-09-23 11:20:46 +00:00
config.txt Merge commit 'e39eacd2d415803ef82de3b6a314e4f2d0fbc4dc' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-10 2025-01-10 09:02:07 +00:00
LICENSE-APACHE
LICENSE-MIT
Readme.md Distribute rustc_codegen_cranelift for Windows 2024-08-10 21:16:44 +00:00
rust-toolchain Merge commit '728bc27f32c05ac8a9b5eb33fd101e479072984f' into sync_cg_clif-2025-01-20 2025-01-20 15:30:04 +00:00
rustfmt.toml Update use declarations formatting options. 2024-07-29 08:26:08 +10:00
test.sh Merge commit '6d35b4c9a04580366fd800692a5b5db79d766530' into sync_cg_clif-2024-09-22 2024-09-23 11:20:46 +00:00
y.cmd Merge commit '3270432f4b0583104c8b9b6f695bf97d6bbf3ac2' into sync_cg_clif-2024-05-13 2024-05-13 13:26:33 +00:00
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y.sh Merge commit '6d35b4c9a04580366fd800692a5b5db79d766530' into sync_cg_clif-2024-09-22 2024-09-23 11:20:46 +00:00

Cranelift codegen backend for rust

The goal of this project is to create an alternative codegen backend for the rust compiler based on Cranelift. This has the potential to improve compilation times in debug mode. If your project doesn't use any of the things listed under "Not yet supported", it should work fine. If not please open an issue.

Download using Rustup

The Cranelift codegen backend is distributed in nightly builds on Linux and x86_64 macOS. If you want to install it using Rustup, you can do that by running:

$ rustup component add rustc-codegen-cranelift-preview --toolchain nightly

Once it is installed, you can enable it with one of the following approaches:

  • CARGO_PROFILE_DEV_CODEGEN_BACKEND=cranelift cargo +nightly build -Zcodegen-backend
  • Add the following to .cargo/config.toml:
    [unstable]
    codegen-backend = true
    
    [profile.dev]
    codegen-backend = "cranelift"
    
  • Add the following to Cargo.toml:
    # This line needs to come before anything else in Cargo.toml
    cargo-features = ["codegen-backend"]
    
    [profile.dev]
    codegen-backend = "cranelift"
    

Precompiled builds

You can also download a pre-built version from the releases page. Extract the dist directory in the archive anywhere you want. If you want to use cargo clif build instead of having to specify the full path to the cargo-clif executable, you can add the bin subdirectory of the extracted dist directory to your PATH. (tutorial for Windows, and for Linux/MacOS).

Building and testing

If you want to build the backend manually, you can download it from GitHub and build it yourself:

$ git clone https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc_codegen_cranelift
$ cd rustc_codegen_cranelift
$ ./y.sh prepare
$ ./y.sh build

To run the test suite replace the last command with:

$ ./test.sh

For more docs on how to build and test see build_system/usage.txt or the help message of ./y.sh.

Platform support

OS \ architecture x86_64 AArch64 Riscv64 s390x (System-Z)
Linux 1 1
FreeBSD 1
AIX 2 N/A N/A 2
Other unixes
macOS N/A N/A
Windows N/A N/A

: Fully supported and tested : Maybe supported, not tested : Not supported at all

Not all targets are available as rustup component for nightly. See notes in the platform support matrix.

Usage

rustc_codegen_cranelift can be used as a near-drop-in replacement for cargo build or cargo run for existing projects.

Assuming $cg_clif_dir is the directory you cloned this repo into and you followed the instructions (y.sh prepare and y.sh build or test.sh).

In the directory with your project (where you can do the usual cargo build), run:

$ $cg_clif_dir/dist/cargo-clif build

This will build your project with rustc_codegen_cranelift instead of the usual LLVM backend.

For additional ways to use rustc_codegen_cranelift like the JIT mode see usage.md.

Building and testing with changes in rustc code

See rustc_testing.md.

Not yet supported

License

Licensed under either of

at your option.

Contribution

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.


  1. Not available as rustup component for nightly. You can build it yourself. ↩︎

  2. XCOFF object file format is not supported. ↩︎