Kipper Compiler

The Kipper Compiler is a TypeScript-based compiler that can compile Kipper code into TypeScript and generate the required overhead for the Kipper program. (In the future, native JavaScript should be supported as well. See #32 for more information.)

Kipper API

Kipper provides a TypeScript API for interacting with its compiler, which can be used to configure and inspect the compilation of a program. This API is per default shipped with the @kipper/core package and the kipper-standalone.js file.

Configuring the Kipper Compiler

Configuring KipperCompile.compile() can be done using the CompileConfig interface, which defines all available parameters for a compilation.

Kipper Compiler Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
fileName	string	The name of the file. Per default `anonymous-script`.
target	KipperTarget	The Kipper target instance, which defines the translation behaviour of the Kipper AST nodes. Per default `TypeScriptTarget`.
optimisationOptions	OptimisationOptions	The options for optimising the Kipper output. Defaults to an object with the following values: `optimiseInternals: true` `optimiseBuiltIns: false` More info down below in Kipper Optimiser Parameters.
extendBuiltIns	Array<BuiltInFunction>	Additional built-in functions that should be available in the Kipper program. This extends builtIns and is per default empty.
builtIns	Array<BuiltInFunction>	Standard built-in functions that should be available in the Kipper program. If this is defined with new built-in functions that Kipper does not implement per default, the Kipper target class will have to be updated as well to implement the generation of these built-ins. Defaults to the function as listed in Built-in Functions.

Kipper Optimiser Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
optimiseInternals	boolean	If set to true, the internal functions (functions generated by the Kipper compiler to provide specific functionality) of the compiled code will be optimised using tree-shaking reducing the size of the output. Defaults to `true`.
optimiseBuiltIns	boolean	If set to true, the built-in functions of the compiled code will be optimised using tree-shaking reducing the size of the output. Defaults to `false`.

Example Configuration

import { KipperCompiler } from "@kipper/core";
import { TypeScriptTarget } from "@kipper/core/lib/targets/typescript";

const compiler = new KipperCompiler();
const result = compiler.compile(
    kipperCode, // A string or a KipperParseStream containing the source code
    {
        fileName: "myProgram.kip",
        target: new TypeScriptTarget(),
        optimisationOptions: {
            optimiseInternals: true, // Removes any unused internal function
            optimiseBuiltIns: true, // Removes any unused built-in function
        },
    },
);

Kipper CLI Parameters

Parameters for the Kipper Compiler CLI in the console.

Flags	Description
-b, --[no-]optimise-builtins	If set to true, the built-in functions of the compiled code will be optimised using tree-shaking reducing the size of the output.
-e, --encoding=encoding	The encoding that should be used to read the file (ascii,utf8,utf16le). Defaults to `utf8`.
-i, --[no-]optimise-internals	If set to true, the internal functions of the compiled code will be optimised using tree-shaking reducing the size of the output.
-o, --output-dir=output-dir	The build directory where the compiled files should be placed. If the path does not exist, it will be created. Defaults to `build`.
-s, --string-code=string-code	The content of a Kipper file that can be passed as a replacement for the 'file' parameter.

Example CLI Command

kipper compile -s 'call print("Hello world!");' -e utf16le -i -b