gh-188: Move to Clang.

Update build script, interpreter (for compatibility), README.md, and ci.yml.

Author: python-processing-unit

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -12,9 +12,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
-      - name: Setup MSVC
-        uses: ilammy/msvc-dev-cmd@v1.13.0
-
       - name: Build interpreter and extensions
         run: .\build.ps1
 

README.md

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-This is the canonical implementation of the Prefix programming language in C17, targeting MSVC (VS2026).
+This is the canonical implementation of the Prefix programming language in C17, targeting Clang on baseline x64 Windows.
 
 The versioning system used is [SemVer 2.0](https://semver.org/).

build.ps1

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ Compiles the Prefix runtime into a shared DLL, links the interpreter EXE
 against that DLL's import library, and compiles each discovered extension
 against the same shared runtime.
 
-Requires: run from a Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio where cl.exe is on PATH.
+Requires: clang.exe on PATH targeting x64.
 Usage (from Prefix folder):
     powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\build.ps1
 #>
@@ -30,9 +30,22 @@ $buildDir = Join-Path $env:TEMP ("prefix-build-$stamp")
 New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $buildDir -Force | Out-Null
 Write-Host "Build dir: $buildDir"
 
-$cl = Get-Command cl.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
-if (-not $cl) {
-    Write-Error "cl.exe not found. Run this script from a Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio."
+$clang = Get-Command clang.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+if (-not $clang) {
+    Write-Error "clang.exe not found on PATH."
+    Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $buildDir -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+    exit 1
+}
+
+$clangTarget = (& clang.exe -dumpmachine 2>$null | Select-Object -First 1)
+if (-not $clangTarget) {
+    Write-Error "Unable to determine clang.exe target triple."
+    Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $buildDir -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
+    exit 1
+}
+
+if ($clangTarget -notmatch '^x86_64-') {
+    Write-Error "clang.exe must target baseline x64. Found target '$clangTarget'."
     Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $buildDir -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
     exit 1
 }
@@ -74,22 +87,53 @@ if ($platform::IsOSPlatform([System.Runtime.InteropServices.OSPlatform]::Linux))
 
 Push-Location $buildDir
 try {
-    $runtimeArgs = @(
-        "/std:c17", "/Gd", "/O2", "/Gy", "/GF", "/GL", "/W4", "/WX", "/MP", "/nologo",
+    $isWindows = $platform::IsOSPlatform([System.Runtime.InteropServices.OSPlatform]::Windows)
+
+    # Use a single release profile for every artifact: portable baseline x64,
+    # full-program optimization, and link-time dead stripping/folding.
+    $clangArgs = @(
+        "--driver-mode=cl",
+        "/clang:-march=x86-64",
+        "/clang:-fuse-ld=lld",
+        "/clang:-flto=full",
+        "/clang:-ffunction-sections",
+        "/clang:-fdata-sections"
+    )
+    $releaseCompileArgs = @(
+        "/std:c17", "/Gd", "/O2", "/Ot", "/Oi", "/Ob2", "/Gy", "/Gw", "/GF", "/W4", "/WX", "/nologo"
+    )
+    # Only pass the `--gc-sections` linker option on non-Windows platforms;
+    # on Windows we use MSVC-style linker options (/OPT:REF /OPT:ICF).
+    if (-not $isWindows) {
+        $clangArgs += "/clang:-Wl,--gc-sections"
+    }
+
+    # Libraries that extensions may need on Windows. Link via the build
+    # system instead of source-level linker pragmas in the extension code.
+    $linkLibs = @()
+    if ($isWindows) {
+        $linkLibs = @("ole32.lib", "ws2_32.lib", "winhttp.lib", "user32.lib", "gdi32.lib")
+        $clangArgs += "/clang:-Wno-deprecated-declarations"
+    }
+
+    $runtimeArgs = @($clangArgs + $releaseCompileArgs + @(
         "/LD", "/I$src",
         "/Fe:$runtimeDllName"
-    )
+    ))
     $runtimeArgs += $runtimeSources
-    $runtimeArgs += @(
-        "/link",
-        "/DEF:$runtimeDef",
-        "/IMPLIB:$runtimeLibName"
-    )
+    $runtimeLinkFlags = @("/link", "/DEF:$runtimeDef", "/IMPLIB:$runtimeLibName")
+    if ($isWindows) {
+        $runtimeLinkFlags += "/OPT:REF"
+        $runtimeLinkFlags += "/OPT:ICF"
+    } else {
+        $runtimeLinkFlags += "/clang:-Wl,--gc-sections"
+    }
+    $runtimeArgs += $runtimeLinkFlags
 
-    Write-Host "Invoking: cl.exe $($runtimeArgs -join ' ')"
-    & cl.exe @runtimeArgs
+    Write-Host "Invoking: clang.exe $($runtimeArgs -join ' ')"
+    & clang.exe @runtimeArgs
     if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
-        throw "cl.exe returned exit code $LASTEXITCODE while building shared runtime"
+        throw "clang.exe returned exit code $LASTEXITCODE while building shared runtime"
     }
 
     $runtimeDllPath = Join-Path $buildDir $runtimeDllName
@@ -111,18 +155,26 @@ try {
     Write-Host "Copied runtime DLL to: $runtimeDllDest"
     Write-Host "Copied runtime import library to: $runtimeLibDest"
 
-    $exeArgs = @(
-        "/std:c17", "/Gd", "/O2", "/Gy", "/GF", "/GL", "/W4", "/WX", "/MP", "/nologo",
+    $exeArgs = @($clangArgs + $releaseCompileArgs + @(
         "/I$src",
         "/Fe:prefix.exe",
         $mainSource,
         $runtimeLibPath
-    )
+    ))
+    $exeLinkFlags = @()
+    if ($isWindows) {
+        $exeLinkFlags += "/link"
+        $exeLinkFlags += "/OPT:REF"
+        $exeLinkFlags += "/OPT:ICF"
+    } else {
+        $exeLinkFlags += "/clang:-Wl,--gc-sections"
+    }
+    $exeArgs += $exeLinkFlags
 
-    Write-Host "Invoking: cl.exe $($exeArgs -join ' ')"
-    & cl.exe @exeArgs
+    Write-Host "Invoking: clang.exe $($exeArgs -join ' ')"
+    & clang.exe @exeArgs
     if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
-        throw "cl.exe returned exit code $LASTEXITCODE while building interpreter"
+        throw "clang.exe returned exit code $LASTEXITCODE while building interpreter"
     }
 
     $outExe = Join-Path $buildDir "prefix.exe"
@@ -157,18 +209,29 @@ try {
         New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $extBuildDir -Force | Out-Null
         Push-Location $extBuildDir
         try {
-            $extArgs = @(
-                "/std:c17", "/Gd", "/O2", "/W4", "/WX", "/nologo", "/LD", "/LTCG",
+            $extArgs = @($clangArgs + $releaseCompileArgs + @(
+                "/LD",
                 "/I$src",
                 "/Fe:$extOutName",
-                $extSourcePath,
-                $runtimeLibPath
-            )
+                $extSourcePath
+            ))
+            # Add OS-specific libraries required by some extensions.
+            if ($linkLibs.Count -gt 0) { $extArgs += $linkLibs }
+            $extArgs += $runtimeLibPath
+            $extLinkFlags = @()
+            if ($isWindows) {
+                $extLinkFlags += "/link"
+                $extLinkFlags += "/OPT:REF"
+                $extLinkFlags += "/OPT:ICF"
+            } else {
+                $extLinkFlags += "/clang:-Wl,--gc-sections"
+            }
+            $extArgs += $extLinkFlags
 
-            Write-Host "Invoking: cl.exe $($extArgs -join ' ')"
-            & cl.exe @extArgs
+            Write-Host "Invoking: clang.exe $($extArgs -join ' ')"
+            & clang.exe @extArgs
             if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
-                throw "cl.exe returned exit code $LASTEXITCODE while building extension '$extSourcePath'"
+                throw "clang.exe returned exit code $LASTEXITCODE while building extension '$extSourcePath'"
             }
 
             $extOutPath = Join-Path $extBuildDir $extOutName

ext/std/networking.c

@@ -6,15 +6,6 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
 
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-#define strdup _strdup
-#endif
-
-#ifndef _WIN32
-#include <strings.h>
-#define _stricmp strcasecmp
-#endif
-
 #ifdef _WIN32
 #ifndef WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
@@ -23,8 +14,9 @@
 #include <ws2tcpip.h>
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <winhttp.h>
-#pragma comment(lib, "ws2_32.lib")
-#pragma comment(lib, "winhttp.lib")
+#if 0
+/* Linker directives removed - handled by build system instead. */
+#endif
 #else
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
@@ -212,11 +204,11 @@ static int tns_to_bytes(Value v, unsigned char** out_data, size_t* out_len) {
 
 static char* normalize_encoding_name(const char* coding) {
 	if (!coding || coding[0] == '\0') return strdup("UTF-8");
-	if (_stricmp(coding, "UTF8") == 0 || _stricmp(coding, "UTF-8") == 0) return strdup("UTF-8");
-	if (_stricmp(coding, "UTF16") == 0 || _stricmp(coding, "UTF-16") == 0) return strdup("UTF-16");
-	if (_stricmp(coding, "ASCII") == 0) return strdup("ASCII");
-	if (_stricmp(coding, "LATIN1") == 0 || _stricmp(coding, "LATIN-1") == 0) return strdup("latin-1");
-	if (_stricmp(coding, "ANSI") == 0) return strdup("cp1252");
+	if (prefix_stricmp(coding, "UTF8") == 0 || prefix_stricmp(coding, "UTF-8") == 0) return strdup("UTF-8");
+	if (prefix_stricmp(coding, "UTF16") == 0 || prefix_stricmp(coding, "UTF-16") == 0) return strdup("UTF-16");
+	if (prefix_stricmp(coding, "ASCII") == 0) return strdup("ASCII");
+	if (prefix_stricmp(coding, "LATIN1") == 0 || prefix_stricmp(coding, "LATIN-1") == 0) return strdup("latin-1");
+	if (prefix_stricmp(coding, "ANSI") == 0) return strdup("cp1252");
 	return strdup(coding);
 }
 
@@ -369,7 +361,7 @@ static int ensure_bridge_script(char* out_path, size_t out_path_cap) {
 	if (snprintf(script_path, sizeof(script_path), "%s%s", temp_dir, "prefix_networking_bridge.py") < 0) return -1;
 	const char* code = py_bridge_script();
 	if (write_text_file(script_path, code) != 0) return -1;
-	strncpy_s(out_path, out_path_cap, script_path, out_path_cap - 1);
+	snprintf(out_path, out_path_cap, "%s", script_path);
 	return 0;
 #endif
 }
@@ -385,7 +377,7 @@ static int create_temp_file_path(char* out_path, size_t out_cap) {
 	if (n == 0 || n >= sizeof(temp_dir)) return -1;
 	char temp_file[MAX_PATH];
 	if (GetTempFileNameA(temp_dir, "pfx", 0, temp_file) == 0) return -1;
-	strncpy_s(out_path, out_cap, temp_file, out_cap - 1);
+	snprintf(out_path, out_cap, "%s", temp_file);
 	return 0;
 #endif
 }
@@ -720,7 +712,7 @@ static Value op_tcp_send(Interpreter* interp, Value* args, int argc, Expr** arg_
 	const char* coding = (argc >= 3) ? as_cstr(args[2]) : "UTF-8";
 	char* norm = normalize_encoding_name(coding);
 	if (!norm) RUNTIME_ERROR(interp, "TCP_SEND failed: out of memory", line, col);
-	if (_stricmp(norm, "UTF-8") != 0 && _stricmp(norm, "ASCII") != 0 && _stricmp(norm, "latin-1") != 0 && _stricmp(norm, "cp1252") != 0) {
+	if (prefix_stricmp(norm, "UTF-8") != 0 && prefix_stricmp(norm, "ASCII") != 0 && prefix_stricmp(norm, "latin-1") != 0 && prefix_stricmp(norm, "cp1252") != 0) {
 		free(norm);
 		RUNTIME_ERROR(interp, "TCP_SEND failed: unsupported coding", line, col);
 	}

ext/std/win32.c

@@ -13,11 +13,7 @@
 static void set_runtime_error(Interpreter* interp, const char* msg, int line, int col) {
 	if (!interp) return;
 	if (interp->error) free(interp->error);
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-	interp->error = msg ? _strdup(msg) : NULL;
-#else
 	interp->error = msg ? strdup(msg) : NULL;
-#endif
 	interp->error_line = line;
 	interp->error_col = col;
 }
@@ -112,12 +108,8 @@ static Value op_win_load_library(Interpreter* interp, Value* args, int argc, Exp
 	if (!name) return value_null();
 	// Accept both with and without .dll
 	char buf[1024];
-	if (_stricmp(name + (strlen(name) >= 4 ? strlen(name) - 4 : 0), ".dll") == 0) {
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-		strcpy_s(buf, sizeof(buf), name);
-#else
+	if (prefix_stricmp(name + (strlen(name) >= 4 ? strlen(name) - 4 : 0), ".dll") == 0) {
 		strncpy(buf, name, sizeof(buf)-1); buf[sizeof(buf)-1] = '\0';
-#endif
 	} else {
 		snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%s.dll", name);
 	}
@@ -317,15 +309,12 @@ static Value op_win_call(Interpreter* interp, Value* args, int argc, Expr** arg_
 	const char* func = value_as_cstr(interp, args[1], "func", line, col); if (!func) return value_null();
 	const char* arg_types = NULL; if (args[2].type == VAL_STR) arg_types = args[2].as.s; else { set_runtime_error(interp, "arg types must be STR", line, col); return value_null(); }
 	const char* ret_type = NULL; if (args[3].type == VAL_STR) ret_type = args[3].as.s; else { set_runtime_error(interp, "ret type must be STR", line, col); return value_null(); }
+	(void)ret_type;
 
 	// Normalize library name
 	char libbuf[1024]; if (strlen(lib) >= sizeof(libbuf)-5) { set_runtime_error(interp, "library name too long", line, col); return value_null(); }
-	    if (_stricmp(lib + (strlen(lib) >= 4 ? strlen(lib) - 4 : 0), ".dll") == 0) {
-	#ifdef _MSC_VER
-		strcpy_s(libbuf, sizeof(libbuf), lib);
-	#else
+	    if (prefix_stricmp(lib + (strlen(lib) >= 4 ? strlen(lib) - 4 : 0), ".dll") == 0) {
 		strncpy(libbuf, lib, sizeof(libbuf)-1); libbuf[sizeof(libbuf)-1] = '\0';
-	#endif
 	    } else snprintf(libbuf, sizeof(libbuf), "%s.dll", lib);
 	HMODULE h = LoadLibraryA(libbuf);
 	if (!h) { char em[128]; snprintf(em, sizeof(em), "Failed to load DLL %s: %lu", libbuf, (unsigned long)GetLastError()); set_runtime_error(interp, em, line, col); return value_null(); }
@@ -337,11 +326,7 @@ static Value op_win_call(Interpreter* interp, Value* args, int argc, Expr** arg_
 	int provided = argc - 4;
 	int code_count = 0;
 	char codes[64];
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-	strcpy_s(codes, sizeof(codes), arg_types);
-#else
 	strncpy(codes, arg_types, sizeof(codes)-1); codes[sizeof(codes)-1] = '\0';
-#endif
 	// if comma-separated, compact
 	char compact[64]; int cc = 0;
 	for (int i = 0; codes[i] && cc + 1 < (int)sizeof(compact); i++) if (codes[i] != ',') compact[cc++] = codes[i]; compact[cc] = '\0';

lib/std/gui/gui.c

@@ -12,12 +12,9 @@
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #endif
 #include <windows.h>
-#pragma comment(lib, "user32.lib")
-#pragma comment(lib, "gdi32.lib")
+#if 0
+/* Linker directives removed; link against OS libraries via build system when needed. */
 #endif
-
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-#define strdup _strdup
 #endif
 
 #ifdef _WIN32

lib/std/image/image.c

@@ -13,11 +13,9 @@
 #define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 #endif
 #include <windows.h>
-#pragma comment(lib, "ole32.lib")
+#if 0
+/* Linker directives removed; link against OS libraries via build system when needed. */
 #endif
-
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-#define strdup _strdup
 #endif
 
 typedef struct {
@@ -29,11 +27,7 @@ typedef struct {
 static void set_runtime_error(Interpreter* interp, const char* msg, int line, int col) {
 	if (!interp) return;
 	if (interp->error) free(interp->error);
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-	interp->error = msg ? _strdup(msg) : NULL;
-#else
 	interp->error = msg ? strdup(msg) : NULL;
-#endif
 	interp->error_line = line;
 	interp->error_col = col;
 }

src/ast.c

@@ -3,10 +3,6 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
-#ifdef _MSC_VER
-#define strdup _strdup
-#endif
-
 static void* ast_alloc(size_t size) {
     void* ptr = malloc(size);
     if (!ptr) {