SilverCore-UI

No bridge. No GC. No compromise.

A cross-platform rendering kernel written in pure C that eliminates the JavaScript bridge entirely. Instead of running app logic through an interpreter and translating it across a JS-to-native boundary, SilverCore compiles directly to a native binary or to WebAssembly and drives the GPU without a runtime middleman.

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The Problem It Solves

Every major cross-platform UI framework (React Native, Flutter, Electron, Expo) has the same fundamental bottleneck: app logic lives in a managed runtime (V8, Hermes, Dart VM) and must cross a serialized bridge to reach the platform's native drawing APIs. That crossing costs CPU cycles, introduces latency spikes from garbage collection, and burns battery waiting for round trips.

SilverCore removes the bridge. App logic, layout, animation, and rendering are all C code compiled into one binary. There is no interpreter, no GC pause, no bridge.

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What Is Built

Subsystem	File	What It Does
Types & primitives	include/sc_types.h	Fixed-width integers, platform detection, compiler macros, result codes, RGBA color, 2-D rects
Math	include/sc_math.h	vec2/vec3/vec4/mat4 with SSE2 and NEON hot paths
Memory	include/sc_arena.h	Linear bump allocator + typed slab pool — zero malloc on the hot path
Layout engine	include/sc_layout.h	Flexbox subset in C: row/column, flex-grow, flex-wrap, align-self, gap, justify-content, align-items, margin, padding
Font system	include/sc_font.h	stb_truetype-based font rasterizer with glyph atlas caching and text rendering
Graphics layer	include/sc_gfx.h	Backend-agnostic 2-D/3-D API: buffers, textures, shaders, pipelines, depth/stencil testing, batch 2-D helpers, draw-call sorting, O(1) resource slot allocator, optional thread-safe mode
Widget/scene	include/sc_widget.h	Retained widget tree with animations, events, and layout sync
Runtime	include/sc_runtime.h	Cooperative fiber scheduler, MPSC task queue, min-heap timer, 60 Hz loop
Vulkan backend	backends/sc_backend_vulkan.h	Full Vulkan 1.0 implementation: swapchain, offscreen, SPIR-V shaders, push constants, pipeline caching by descriptor hash, batch + indexed draws
Metal backend	backends/sc_backend_metal.h	Full Metal implementation (Obj-C): device, command queue, render pipeline, buffers, textures, shader compilation from source, depth/stencil, frame overlap, windowed + headless
D3D12 backend	backends/sc_backend_d3d12.h	Full API surface declared with SCD3D12Desc (stub — link d3d12.lib on Windows)
WebGPU backend	backends/sc_backend_wgpu.h	Full API surface declared with SCWGPUDesc (stub — link wgpu-native or Dawn)
Python bindings	bindings/python/silvercore.py	ctypes wrapper + simulation mode (no native lib required)
WASM glue	tools/wasm/silvercore.js	Emscripten JS bridge, Canvas2D blit, requestAnimationFrame loop
PoC app	apps/stock_dashboard/	1 024-ticker stock dashboard, 60 Hz, zero heap allocs per frame

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Proof of Concept Results

The stock dashboard PoC renders 1 024 live-updating ticker cards (each with symbol, price, and a green/red delta bar) inside a 1 280 × 720 viewport, headless, for 5 seconds:

Tickers    : 1024
Viewport   : 1280x720
Target     : 60 Hz
Cell size  : 35x16 px

--- Benchmark results (300 frames) ---
  Total time    : 5.035 s
  Actual fps    : 59.6
  Draw calls/fr : 4103
  Verts/fr      : 24618
  Scene memory  : 5.28 MB
  Arena used    : 0.00 KB / 8192.00 KB   ← zero heap allocs per frame

The PoC outputs a silvercore.ppm image of the final frame for visual inspection.

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Architecture at a Glance

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        Your App (C / Python / Rust)         │
└───────────────────────┬────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │  SilverCore Public API
┌───────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│  SCScene  (widget tree + animation + layout sync)           │
│      ↓                          ↓                           │
│  SCLayoutTree (Flexbox)   SCWidgetAnim (easing tweens)      │
│      ↓                          ↓                           │
│  SCGfxContext  ──── draw_rect / draw_line / draw_sprite ───▶│
│      ↓                                                      │
│  Backend: Vulkan (full) | Software | Metal | D3D12          │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                        │
┌───────────────────────▼────────────────────────────────────┐
│  SCEventLoop  (fibers + MPSC tasks + min-heap timers)       │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

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Building

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.20+
• GCC 10+ or Clang 12+ (or MSVC 19.28+)
• libm (standard on all platforms)
• Optional for WASM: Emscripten SDK

Native build (Linux / macOS / Windows)

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

This produces:

Output	Path
Static library	build/libsc_kernel.a
Shared library	build/libsc_kernel.so (.dylib / .dll)
PoC executable	build/stock_dashboard
Test binaries	build/test_arena, build/test_math, etc.

Run the PoC

./build/stock_dashboard

Run tests

cd build && ctest --output-on-failure

WebAssembly (Emscripten)

emcmake cmake -S . -B build-wasm -DWASM=ON
cmake --build build-wasm -j$(nproc)

CMake options

Option	Default	Description
SC_GFX_BACKEND	SOFTWARE	Graphics backend: SOFTWARE, VULKAN, METAL, D3D12, or WGPU
SC_TESTS	ON	Build test suite
SC_SHARED	ON	Build shared library for Python ctypes
SC_ASAN	OFF	Enable AddressSanitizer
SC_UBSAN	OFF	Enable UndefinedBehaviourSanitizer
WASM	OFF	Emscripten WASM target

CI pipeline

The .github/workflows/ci.yml runs four jobs on every push and PR:

Job	What it does
test-software	Compiles all 6 tests + stock dashboard with -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Wshadow, runs suite, produces PPM output
test-vulkan	Compiles Vulkan backend header + headless test (requires libvulkan-dev)
test-metal	(macOS CI only) Compiles Metal backend as Obj-C, runs headless test
test-d3d12	(Windows CI only) Compiles D3D12 stub, verifies stub dispatch
test-wgpu	Compiles WebGPU stub, verifies stub dispatch
test-asan	Same tests with AddressSanitizer enabled
test-ubsan	Same tests with UndefinedBehaviourSanitizer enabled
wasm	Cross-compiles with Emscripten SDK, verifies .wasm/.js output

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Python Scripting Layer

python3 bindings/python/silvercore.py   # self-test in simulation mode

from bindings.python.silvercore import SilverCore, Scene, LayoutStyle, Color, FlexDir

sc    = SilverCore("./build/libsc_kernel.so")
gfx   = sc.gfx_init(width=1280, height=720)
scene = Scene(sc, gfx, 1280, 720)

root  = scene.widget_rect(-1, Color.from_hex("#1a1a2e"),
                           LayoutStyle(flex_dir=FlexDir.COLUMN,
                                       width=1280, height=720))
title = scene.widget_text(root, "Hello SilverCore", Color.WHITE, font_size=18)

while True:
    sc.gfx_begin_frame(gfx, Color(0.05, 0.05, 0.1))
    scene.update(dt=0.016)
    scene.render()
    sc.gfx_end_frame(gfx)

When the native library is absent the module runs in simulation mode — all calls succeed as no-ops. This lets Python tests and CI run without a compiled binary.

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Project Structure

silvercore-kernel/
├── include/
│   ├── sc_types.h        Core types, macros, result codes
│   ├── sc_math.h         vec2/3/4, mat4, SIMD paths
│   ├── sc_arena.h        Arena + pool allocators
│   ├── sc_layout.h       Flexbox layout engine (wrap, gap, align-self)
│   ├── sc_font.h         stb_truetype font rasterizer + atlas
│   ├── sc_gfx.h          Graphics abstraction layer
│   ├── sc_widget.h       Widget tree, scene, animations
│   └── sc_runtime.h      Fibers, tasks, timers, event loop
├── backends/
│   ├── sc_backend_vulkan.h   Full Vulkan 1.0 backend (buffers, shaders, pipelines, indexed draws, pipeline cache)
│   ├── sc_backend_metal.h    Full Metal backend (Obj-C, windowed + headless)
│   ├── sc_backend_d3d12.h    D3D12 stub (full API surface + SCD3D12Desc)
│   └── sc_backend_wgpu.h     WebGPU stub (full API surface + SCWGPUDesc)
├── bindings/
│   └── python/silvercore.py
├── tools/
│   ├── stb_truetype.h    Single-header font rasterizer
│   ├── sc_vk_vert.h      Embedded SPIR-V vertex shader
│   ├── sc_vk_frag.h      Embedded SPIR-V fragment shader
│   ├── sc_vert.spv       Compiled vertex shader binary
│   ├── sc_frag.spv       Compiled fragment shader binary
│   └── wasm/
│       ├── CMakeLists.wasm.cmake
│       └── silvercore.js
├── apps/
│   └── stock_dashboard/
│       └── stock_dashboard.c
├── tests/
│   ├── test_arena.c
│   ├── test_math.c
│   ├── test_layout.c      35 tests (wrap, gap, align-self, edge cases)
│   ├── test_gfx.c         26 tests (boundary conditions, frame loop, depth/stencil, thread safety, resize)
│   ├── test_font.c        Font tests (requires TEST_FONT_PATH)
│   └── test_runtime.c
└── CMakeLists.txt

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License

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Copyright 2026 SilverCore Contributors

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.

Made By AmalXloop :)