B Language Compiler

A modern B programming language compiler written in Go with LLVM IR backend and clang-like command-line interface.

The B programming language was developed by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in 1969 as the predecessor to C.

Status: ✅ Feature-Complete • 235 tests passing • 76.3% coverage

Quick Start

# Build everything
make

# Compile and run a B program (automatic linking)
./blang examples/hello.b
./hello

Output: Hello, World!

Installation

Prerequisites

Go (>=1.21)
clang/LLVM toolchain
make

Install (user-local)

make
make install               # installs to $HOME/.local
# ensure PATH contains $HOME/.local/bin
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"   # add to your shell profile
blang -V

Uninstall

make uninstall

Custom prefix

make install DESTDIR=/custom/prefix

Features

Complete B Language Support: All B language features implemented
Cross-platform: Runs natively on Linux (x86_64, ARM64, RISC-V) and macOS (x86_64, ARM64)
Clang-like CLI Interface: Professional command-line options and workflow
Multiple Output Formats: Executable, object files, assembly, LLVM IR
LLVM IR Backend: Portable, optimized code generation
Comprehensive Testing: 235 tests across 8 organized test files
Modern Go Implementation: Clean, maintainable codebase

Command-Line Interface

The blang compiler provides a clang-like command-line interface with comprehensive options:

Basic Usage

# Generate executable
blang hello.b -o hello

# Generate object file
blang -c hello.b -o hello.o

# Generate assembly
blang -S hello.b -o hello.s

# Generate LLVM IR
blang --emit-llvm hello.b -o hello.ll

Compiler Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | -o <file> | Place output into <file> | | -c | Compile and assemble, but do not link | | -S | Compile only; do not assemble or link | | --emit-llvm | Emit LLVM IR instead of executable |

Optimization and Debugging

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | -O0, -O1, -O2, -O3 | Optimization levels | | -g | Generate debug information | | -v | Verbose output |

Paths and Libraries

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | -L <dir> | Add directory to library search path (can be repeated) | | -l <lib> | Link with library (can be repeated) |

Other Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | --save-temps | Do not delete intermediate files | | -h, --help | Display help information | | -V, --version | Display version information |

Examples

# Optimized executable with debug info
blang -O2 -g hello.b -o optimized

# Verbose compilation
blang -v hello.b

# Multiple library directories and libraries
blang hello.b -L/usr/lib -L/usr/local/lib -lpthread -lmath

# All flags combined
blang -v -O3 -g --save-temps hello.b

Example Programs

examples/hello.b - Hello world using write()
examples/helloworld.b - Hello world using printf()
examples/fibonacci.b - Fibonacci calculator
examples/fizzbuzz.b - FizzBuzz 1-100
examples/e-2.b - E-2 constant calculation
examples/b.b - B compiler for PDP-7

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run specific test categories
go test -v -run TestCLIBasicOptions

Documentation

CLI Usage Guide - Comprehensive command-line interface guide
B Language Runtime Library - I/O functions, string functions, system functions
B Language Reference - Original manual by S.C.Johnson
B Tutorial - A tutorial introduction by B.W.Kernighan
Users' Reference to B - Ken Thompson's guide
LLVM Documentation - LLVM IR reference
BCause - C-based B compiler (inspiration)

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file.

Blang

Install / Use

README