wasm-blitz

A fast WebAssembly (WASM) compiler that supports multiple target platforms including JavaScript and various native architectures.

Overview

wasm-blitz is a no_std compatible WebAssembly compiler designed for flexibility and performance. It provides compilation backends for both JavaScript runtime environments and native CPU architectures.

Features

• Multi-target compilation: Compile WASM to JavaScript or native machine code
• Native architecture support: x86-64, AArch64, PowerPC 64-bit, and RISC-V 64-bit
• Dead Code Elimination (DCE): Automatic optimization to remove unused code
• No standard library dependency: Built with #![no_std] for embedded and constrained environments
• Modular architecture: Clean separation between frontend parsing, common utilities, and backend code generation

Crates

This project is organized as a Cargo workspace with the following crates:

Core Crates

• blitz-common: Common utilities and types used across all compilation targets

  • Machine operator abstractions
  • Dead code elimination passes
  • Assembly abstractions
  • Common type definitions

• blitz-reencode: Re-encodes blitz IR back to WebAssembly

  • Converts blitz machine operators back to WASM bytecode
  • Applies optimizations before final WASM encoding
  • Used for producing WASM output from blitz IR

Target Backend Crates

• blitz-js: JavaScript code generation backend

  • Compiles WASM bytecode to JavaScript
  • Optimized stack management
  • Runtime type checking

• blitz-x86-64: x86-64 native code generator

  • Naive code generation strategy
  • Direct machine code emission

• blitz-aarch64: ARM AArch64 (ARM64) code generator (Work in Progress)

  • Support for 64-bit ARM architecture
  • ARMv8-A and later architectures

• blitz-ppc64: PowerPC 64-bit code generator (Work in Progress)

  • Support for PowerPC 64-bit architecture
  • Power ISA v2.07 and later

• blitz-riscv64: RISC-V 64-bit code generator (Work in Progress)

  • RV64IMAFD instruction set (I, M, A, F, D extensions)
  • Compatible with rv-utils

• blitz-i4: Common backend logic for 4-byte instruction architectures

  • Shared infrastructure for AArch64 and RISC-V 64-bit
  • Common optimizations for fixed 4-byte instruction architectures

Building

Build all crates in the workspace:

cargo build

Build in release mode for optimized output:

cargo build --release

Build a specific crate:

cargo build -p portal-solutions-blitz-js

Documentation

Generate and view the documentation:

cargo doc --open

This will build documentation for all crates and open it in your browser.

Dependencies

wasm-blitz uses the following major dependencies:

• wasmparser: WebAssembly binary format parser
• wasm-encoder: WebAssembly binary format encoder
• wax-core: Core utilities for WASM analysis and transformation

Usage

Each backend crate can be used independently depending on your target platform:

// Example: Using the JavaScript backend
use portal_solutions_blitz_js::JsWrite;

// Example: Using the x86-64 backend
use portal_solutions_blitz_x86_64::WriterExt;

See individual crate documentation for detailed usage examples.

Architecture

┌─────────────────┐
│   WASM Input    │
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  blitz-common   │  ◄─── Shared types, DCE, machine ops
└────────┬────────┘
         │
    ┌────┴────────────────────────┬─────────────┐
    ▼                             ▼             ▼
┌────────┐    ┌──────────────┬────────────┬────────────┐
│blitz-js│    │ blitz-x86-64 │blitz-aarch64│ blitz-... │
└────────┘    └──────────────┴────────────┴────────────┘
    │                       │
    ▼                       ▼
JavaScript              Native Code

License

This project is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 (MPL-2.0). See the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please ensure your code:

• Builds without errors
• Follows the existing code style
• Is compatible with #![no_std] where applicable
• Includes appropriate documentation

Project Status

This project is under active development. APIs may change between versions.

Goals

• Add project goals

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