Skip to content

local-dev.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
167 lines (112 loc) · 4.77 KB

local-dev.md

File metadata and controls

167 lines (112 loc) · 4.77 KB
Raw

Languages: English | 简体中文 | 繁體中文 | 日本語 | 한국어 | Français | Deutsch | Español | Italiano | Русский | العربية

← Documentation index

Local Development

Guide for building NeverC from source and setting up a local development environment.

Prerequisites

  • CMake 3.20+
  • Ninja
  • A C++17 host compiler (GCC, Clang, or MSVC)

Building

cmake -S llvm -B build-neverc -G Ninja -C neverc/cmake/caches/NeverC.cmake
cmake --build build-neverc --target neverc

ccache / sccache is auto-detected and enabled if present.

--target neverc is the daily stage-1 build (empty embedded-runtime placeholders). That is enough for most local compile/debug work. When you need embedded string / mimalloc / std / NVK runtimes in the binary itself (or want a CI-like compiler), run the stage-2 umbrella:

cmake --build build-neverc --target neverc-embed-runtime-bitcode

Details of the two-stage bootstrap live in Builtins.

Building with Tests

cmake -S llvm -B build-neverc -G Ninja -C neverc/cmake/caches/NeverC.cmake -DNEVERC_INCLUDE_TESTS=ON
cmake --build build-neverc --target check-neverc

check-neverc depends on neverc-embed-runtime-bitcode, so the first test run bootstraps and relinks the compiler before CTest. You do not need to run the embed target by hand.

Setting Up PATH (macOS / Linux)

After building, the neverc binary lives at build-neverc/bin/neverc. Instead of typing the full path every time, use the helper script to add it to your shell's PATH:

source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh

Now you can run neverc directly:

neverc --version
neverc -c hello.c -o hello.o

Removing from PATH

When you no longer need the local build on PATH, remove it in the same shell session:

source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --remove   # or -r

Persistent Setup

Automatically write the source line to your shell rc file (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.profile):

source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --install

To undo:

source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --uninstall

Switching Local Dev vs Release

If you have both a release install (default: ~/.neverc) and an in-tree build, use neverc-env.sh to switch the active neverc in the current shell without overwriting either installation:

source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh              # local dev (build-neverc/bin)
source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --local      # same as above
source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --release    # release install (~/.neverc/bin)
source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --status     # show which neverc is active
source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --remove     # remove both from PATH

Switching sets NEVERC_ENV to local or release:

echo "$NEVERC_ENV"
neverc --version
which neverc

If the release was installed to a custom prefix, pass the same directory as install.sh uses:

NEVERC_INSTALL_DIR=$HOME/.neverc-v3389.1.2 source ./utils/build/neverc-env.sh --release

Optional shell aliases (replace with your repository path):

alias neverc-dev='source /path/to/NeverC/utils/build/neverc-env.sh --local'
alias neverc-rel='source /path/to/NeverC/utils/build/neverc-env.sh --release'

Windows (CMD)

On Windows, use the .bat script instead (no admin required):

utils\build\neverc-env.bat             &REM add to PATH (current session)
utils\build\neverc-env.bat --remove    &REM remove from PATH (current session)
utils\build\neverc-env.bat --global    &REM persist to user PATH via setx
utils\build\neverc-env.bat --global -r &REM remove from user PATH via setx

Unlike the Unix script, no source is needed — the .bat modifies the current cmd session directly. The --global flag writes to the user-level registry via setx (no admin privileges needed).

Prebuilt macOS Binaries

The release is signed with an Apple Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple. Extract the archive and use directly — no quarantine workaround needed.

Cross-Compiling to Windows

NeverC bundles platform SDKs in runtime/ (Windows SDK/WDK, Linux sysroot, macOS sysroot, Android NDK); no external SDK setup is needed.

neverc --target=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc \
  -fbuiltin-string -o hello.exe hello.c -lkernel32

See dyncode compiler docs for Windows dyncode (-fdyncode, PEB import resolution, etc.).

Verify

neverc --version
echo 'int main(void) { return 0; }' > /tmp/hello.c
neverc -c /tmp/hello.c -o /tmp/hello.o