Chris Tate
a35bf813db
A union retype between two shape unions (or two class unions) shares the pointer when both encode their unit arms the same way. Narrowing a field read past `=== undefined` or `=== null` retypes a union with a unit arm to one without it, so the encodings differ and each listed arm was rebuilt: a retain, a tag switch, a second retain and a release, for the same pointer. The unit encodings only matter when the value may hold a unit arm. When the retype lists none of the source's unit tags, every value is a record or class pointer whose arm the target derives from the record or class itself, so the pointer is the target value. The rebuild's release also made the pointer a nursery cycle candidate, and in the native compiler those candidates kept the nursery bypass's probes of closures and boxes succeeding. Without them, a probe window can open while young cycles of the type are held by older garbage that the bypass promoted earlier. The window then frees nothing, the type stays bypassed, and the garbage waits for a mature pass, which on a cold tsc-ts build raised the compiler's peak RSS by about 100 MB. A nursery probe window that opens now makes the next release-triggered pass that would run at the nursery run at the mature level, which reclaims that garbage before the window is judged.
scriptc
scriptc compiles TypeScript and JavaScript to native executables and WebAssembly. It uses the types checked by the TypeScript compiler to generate machine code, and the output runs without Node.js installed. npm packages your program imports compile along with it. Code scriptc can't compile is reported at build time with a diagnostic and, where available, a rewrite hint.
scriptc is experimental and supports a subset of JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js APIs. Run scriptc coverage on an existing program to see how much of it compiles, and see the limitations and Node.js compatibility reference for details.
Installation
Install with Node.js 24 or later and npm:
$ npm install -g scriptc
The installed compiler runs natively on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Node.js is needed only to install it and to run WASI modules with scriptc run. Standalone compiler archives are also available from GitHub Releases.
Building executables requires a linker and the platform SDK or sysroot. See the quickstart for prerequisites and platform support for host requirements, cross-compilation, and WebAssembly.
Build a program
Create hello.ts:
const who = process.argv.length > 2 ? process.argv[2] : "world";
console.log(`hello, ${who}`);
scriptc run compiles the file and runs the result:
$ scriptc run hello.ts
hello, world
scriptc build writes an executable:
$ scriptc build hello.ts -o hello >/dev/null
$ ./hello scriptc
hello, scriptc
These examples use POSIX shell syntax. On Windows, build hello.exe and run it with .\hello.exe.
Use scriptc coverage hello.ts to check what compiles before you build. See coverage reports for details.
Use Node APIs
Supported Node APIs compile to the native runtime. For example, server.ts:
import { createServer } from "node:http";
const server = createServer((req, res) => {
res.setHeader("content-type", "application/json");
res.end(JSON.stringify({ path: req.url }));
});
server.listen(8080, () => {
console.log("listening on http://localhost:8080");
});
$ scriptc build server.ts -o server >/dev/null
$ ./server
listening on http://localhost:8080
Use npm packages
npm packages compile into the executable with your code, so it doesn't read node_modules at runtime.
Create cli.ts:
import pc from "picocolors";
console.log(pc.green("hello from scriptc"));
$ npm install picocolors
$ scriptc build cli.ts -o cli >/dev/null
$ ./cli
hello from scriptc
Package support is partial. See npm dependencies for which packages compile and how to check them.
Documentation
- Introduction: what scriptc is and what you can build.
- Quickstart: installation and your first executable.
- Coverage reports: check whether an existing program compiles.
- Platform support: cross-compilation and WebAssembly.
- CLI reference: commands, options, and output formats.
- Native program objects: use compiler output in external builds.
- Native FFI: call C ABI functions from compiled programs.
- WebAssembly modules: build and embed WASI modules.
- Examples: programs and integration examples in this repository.
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for source setup, testing, native artifact builds, and docs development.