Parsers, type checkers, code generators, garbage collectors, and the design decisions that make a programming language feel coherent. The craft behind the tools we think with.
Most languages ship tooling years after the compiler. I built the Yar IntelliJ plugin in parallel with the compiler itself — 19 commits tracking language changes in real time. Here’s why DX-first language development changes how you think about design.
Implementing a garbage collector for the Yar compiler meant scanning the stack without knowing what’s a pointer. Mark-and-sweep, conservative scanning via setjmp, heap growth targeting, and the fun part: making it work when threads are running.
When the Yar compiler couldn’t import code across project boundaries, I had to build a package manager from nothing. Git-based fetching, alias-based imports, content-addressed caching, transitive resolution — and zero registry. Here’s every decision that mattered.
