StaticCompiler

This is an experimental package to compile Julia code to standalone libraries. A system image is not needed.

Installation and Usage

using Pkg
Pkg.add("StaticCompiler")

julia> using StaticCompiler

julia> fib(n) = n <= 1 ? n : fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2)
fib (generic function with 1 method)

julia> fib_compiled, path = compile(fib, Tuple{Int}, "fib")
(f = fib(::Int64) :: Int64, path = "fib")

julia> fib_compiled(10)
55

Now we can quit this session and load a new one where fib is not defined:

julia> using StaticCompiler

julia> fib
ERROR: UndefVarError: fib not defined

julia> fib_compiled = load_function("fib")
fib(::Int64) :: Int64

julia> fib_compiled(10)
55

See the file tests/runtests.jl for some examples of functions that work with static compilation (and some that don't, marked with @test_skip)

Approach

This package uses the GPUCompiler package to generate code.

Limitations

• GC-tracked allocations and global variables do work with compile, but the way they are implemented is brittle and can be dangerous. Allocate with care.
• GC-tracked allocations and global varaibles do not work with compile_executable (yet).
• Type unstable code is not yet supported.
• Doesn't currently work on Windows.
• If you find any other limitations, let us know. There's probably lots.