Comment by vidarh
20 days ago
It's a fun comparison, but with the notable difference that that one can compile the Linux kernel and generate code for multiple different architectures, while this one can only compile a small proportion of valid C. It's a great project, but it's not so much a C compiler, as a compiler for a subset of C that allows all programs this compiler can compile to also be compiled by an actual C compiler, but not vice versa.
But can it compile "Hello, World" example from its own README.md?
https://github.com/anthropics/claudes-c-compiler/issues/1
It's fascinating how few people read past the issue title
And this is exactly why coding with AI is not-so-slowly taking over.
Most people think they are more capable than they actually are.
Noticed the part where all it requires is to actually have the headers in the right location?
"The location of Standard C headers do not need to be supplied to a conformant compiler."
From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46920922 discussion.
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Noticed the part where the exact instructions from the Readme were followed and it didn't work?
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Well I'm pretty sure the author can make a compliant C compiler in a few more sectors.
I mean we know it can be done in little space, given the many tiny C compilers. I think what is most interesting about this one is exactly the creative shortcuts. It's an interesting design space for e.g. bootstrapping to impose extra restrictions.