Tisp - Tiny Lisp Compiler

Tisp is a lightweight compiler for a mini-lisp programming language that compiles to LLVM IR, then generates native code through the LLVM toolchain. The shortcut for a tisp file is .tsp, like teaspoon (so proud of this name). The entire "codebase" is one file, and a little bit under 300 lines (excluding newlines and comments).

Features

• Type system: Supports integers and floats with automatic type promotion
• Functions: Define and call functions (with recursion support)
• Control flow:
  • if expressions for conditional branching
  • cond for multi-way conditionals
  • loop for... looping
• Arithmetic operations: +, -, *, /
• Comparisons: <, >, =
• Variables: Local variable definitions with define

Requirements

• C++ compiler with filesystem support
• LLVM toolchain (specifically llc)
• GCC or Clang for linking

Building

Compile the compiler itself:

g++ -o tisp src/tisp.cpp

Usage

Basic Usage

Compile a .tsp file to an executable:

tisp program.tsp

This will generate an executable with the same name as the input file (minus the .tsp extension).

Command-Line Options

Usage: tisp <input.tsp> [options]

Options:
  -o <output>   Specify output executable name
  --emit-ir     Emit LLVM IR only (.ll)
  --emit-asm    Emit assembly only (.s)
  --emit-obj    Emit object file only (.o)
  --verbose     Preserve all intermediate files
  --help        Show this help message
  --version     Show version information

License

This project is provided as-is for all purposes, and was really just for my own fun - it's pretty bad code, and really not practical, but if you want to use it, it's yours. Feel free to use, modify, and distribute as you wish.

Acknowledgments

• The LLVM Project - The real backbone of all these little fun projects I do.
• The Dragon Book - For foundational compiler theory, and lots on lexing and parsing.
• Wisp by Adam McDaniel - A minimal Lisp-like language built with LLVM.
• LLVM IR with the C++ API - Tutorial by Mukul Rathi
• “Hello, LLVM” - Tutorial by James Hamilton
• Awesome LLVM - A curated list of useful LLVM resources.
• Jesse Squires' Blog - A great roundup of compiler and LLVM learning materials.
• Building an Optimizing Compiler - Old, but still very good, helpful with high level design.