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I always say this, but my opinion when it comes to bootstrapping a compiler is that it's generally a waste of time unless your language is meant for writing com

I always say this, but my opinion when it comes to bootstrapping a compiler is that it's generally a waste of time unless your language is meant for writing compilers. While dogfooding your language is a great to stress test it, you want to make sure you're testing the right stresses -- the ones your target users will encounter. A compiler may be that thing, but chances are it is not; most people do not write nor do they aspire to write compilers. So showing off that you've written a compiler in your language doesn't attract users, because they're still left with the question "Okay, well what does it do for me?" Another reason is that there is an infinite amount of work that goes into writing a compiler. It's really endless, especially for a small team or solo dev. If you try bootstrapping, it means essentially maintaining two compilers until you can fully bootstrap, which may never come. One compiler is really enough work. The final reason I will say is it takes forever, and puts a total brake on new features, which can really kills project momentum. Writing the first bits of a language can really fly. But when you sit down to bootstrap, it means you're not releasing new features, but redoing everything you've already done. This leads to unfortunate messages like "We’ve now started work on the self-hosted compiler, using the current rudimentary C++-based implementation as a bootstrap.", which followers take to mean "the project is currently in hiatus for the foreseeable future until this background work on the bootstrap compiler is done". This is a critical point in language projects where the bootstrap might never be completed. When I look at a new language project I always check out the "contributors" section. Whenever I see an initial flurry of activity from one or a few devs, followed by a taper off into nothing, I know the project is in trouble. It seems like maybe this author has hit a wall, and I would be highly suspicious of the bootstrap endeavor causing it.

ze7111 1y ago
Hey, I'm one of the dev's; I do definitely agree with you, while bootstrapping isn't always the best idea and it does take forever, we are doing it for a really simple reason, the project was initially a passion project by me, and then A few friends wanted to jump-in as well and make it a fully fledged thing, so we thought it would be a good idea for me to get the bootstrap compiler completed before moving on to the main compiler, So my bootstrap compiler right now works, its not the best tho riddled with bugs and problems; but its enough to write a compiler with. As to the taper off, We all are working summer internships right now, so the development is definitely slowed down a little, but, we are working on it, albeit slowly for the time-being, but the bootstrap endeavor, isn't causing a stop but rather a slow down also paired with the summer internship, it will pick up back to speed once college starts in Fall... Our timeline for a early working alpha with the bootstrap is Q1 2026 (or Q2) but no later. P.S A reason why only I mainly wrote the initial compiler, and also we decided to make a new compiler is since this was a passion project, the code wasn't maintainable AT ALL, I didn't plan on anyone else working on it, the code is really bug prone C++, a lot of lines of code that make 0 sense, and no structure in the codebase. The new compiler however, we are properly structuring it, documenting it, following code guidelines, and working on it as a team as opposed to 1 man writing all the code and the rest of the team only stating ideas.

ze7111 1y ago

Hey, I'm one of the dev's; I do definitely agree with you, while bootstrapping isn't always the best idea and it does take forever, we are doing it for a really simple reason, the project was initially a passion project by me, and then A few friends wanted to jump-in as well and make it a fully fledged thing, so we thought it would be a good idea for me to get the bootstrap compiler completed before moving on to the main compiler, So my bootstrap compiler right now works, its not the best tho riddled with bugs and problems; but its enough to write a compiler with. As to the taper off, We all are working summer internships right now, so the development is definitely slowed down a little, but, we are working on it, albeit slowly for the time-being, but the bootstrap endeavor, isn't causing a stop but rather a slow down also paired with the summer internship, it will pick up back to speed once college starts in Fall... Our timeline for a early working alpha with the bootstrap is Q1 2026 (or Q2) but no later. P.S A reason why only I mainly wrote the initial compiler, and also we decided to make a new compiler is since this was a passion project, the code wasn't maintainable AT ALL, I didn't plan on anyone else working on it, the code is really bug prone C++, a lot of lines of code that make 0 sense, and no structure in the codebase. The new compiler however, we are properly structuring it, documenting it, following code guidelines, and working on it as a team as opposed to 1 man writing all the code and the rest of the team only stating ideas.