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| id | title |
|---|---|
| back-end | Back End |
The Back-End is the part that compiles down to Michelson. Instead of a single compilation step, it is separated in two parts.
Transpiler and Mini_C
The Transpiler is a function that takes as input the Typed AST, and outputs expressions in a language that is basically a Michelson based on with named variables and first-class-environments.
On the one hand, there are cases in the AST like E_if_bool or E_make_empty_list that would be directly translated in Michelson like IF {} {} or NIL.
On the other hand, there are cases in the AST like E_variable or E_environment_select that specifically target the compiler.
The files of the Transpiler are in transpiler/, while those of Mini_c are in mini_c/.
Compiler
The previous LIGO’s compilation to Michelson model was quite complicated. The current one is quite straightforward, where the environment of variables (x -> 12, y -> “foo”) is compiled as Michelson stack (12 :: foo). It has been simplified for multiple reasons: Having a simple model reduces its number of points of failure. Having a simple model makes optimizing it easier. We submitted a change to the Tezos’ protocol that actually make it more efficient.