Cranelift - The All-Rust Codegen Alternative to LLVM (No C/C++)
By Nihal Pasham of Bosch Global Software Technologies
Time: 04:20 PM - 04.40 PM IST Room: 230
Abstract
Cranelift is a lightweight, all-Rust code generation framework designed to overcome the complexities of LLVM. While LLVM has been the go-to choice for decades, its sheer size and steep learning curve make it difficult to navigate, even after 20 years. Cranelift simplifies compiler design and is poised to address the rising importance of compilers in today’s tech landscape. As hardware innovation accelerates, the ability to quickly adapt to new architectures, optimize for power or memory constraints, and improve performance is crucial. Cranelift’s streamlined design enables developers to efficiently tackle these challenges, with a focus on code portability, lower overhead, and faster code generation. This talk will introduce Cranelift’s intermediate representation (IR), covering its use of types, SSA, and control flow graphs (CFGs). Attendees will also see how Cranelift simplifies Rust-to-IR workflows, provides powerful testing and visualization tools, and streamlines code analysis for modern compiler challenges. Whether you’re interested in compilers, Rust, or optimizing code for next-gen hardware, Cranelift offers a fresh, practical solution.
Biography
Nihal is a Sr. Technology Expert at BGSW
Specializing in automotive, industrial, and enterprise systems engineering. In recent years, he has focused on developing high-assurance, high-performance software to enhance the safety and efficiency of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) and embedded heterogeneous systems. Through his emphasis on reusable code and rigorous security engineering, his team has established itself as a leader in product security.
With a career spanning strategic technology roles, Nihal has continuously pushed the boundaries of embedded and heterogeneous computing. At Bosch, he is not only addressing the challenges of today but also shaping the technological landscape of tomorrow, building robust and secure platforms for a connected world.
