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Prerequisites

To build Walrus from source, you’ll need:
  • Rust (latest stable version)
  • Git

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Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/sb2bg/walrus.git
cd walrus

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Basic build

1

Build in debug mode

For development and debugging:
cargo build
The binary will be located at target/debug/walrus.
2

Run directly with Cargo

You can also build and run in one command:
# Execute a file
cargo run -- file.walrus

# Start REPL
cargo run

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Release builds

For optimal performance, build with release optimizations: 
cargo build --release
The optimized binary will be at target/release/walrus.

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Release profile configuration

Walrus includes debug symbols even in release builds for better profiling: 
[profile.release]
debug = true

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Build features

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JIT compilation support

Walrus includes an optional Just-In-Time (JIT) compiler powered by Cranelift that can dramatically speed up hot loops: 
# Build with JIT feature enabled
cargo build --release --features jit
The JIT feature includes the following dependencies:
  • cranelift-codegen
  • cranelift-frontend
  • cranelift-jit
  • cranelift-module
  • cranelift-native
  • target-lexicon

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JIT profiling

Enable JIT profiling output for performance analysis: 
cargo build --release --features "jit,jit-profiling"

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Memory profiling

Build with heap profiling support using dhat: 
cargo build --release --features dhat-heap

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Binaries

The Walrus workspace produces two binaries:

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Main interpreter

cargo build --release
./target/release/walrus
Supports multiple execution modes:
  • Tree-walking interpreter (default)
  • Bytecode VM with -c flag
  • Disassembler with -d flag
  • JIT compilation with --jit flag (if built with jit feature)

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Language server

cargo build --release --bin walrus-lsp
./target/release/walrus-lsp
Used by the VS Code extension for LSP features.

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Custom allocator

Walrus uses mimalloc as a custom allocator for improved allocation performance. This is automatically included in all builds.

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Build dependencies

Key dependencies compiled during the build:
  • LALRPOP - Parser generator (build-time)
  • SlotMap - Arena-based memory management
  • rustc-hash - Fast hashing (FxHashMap/FxHashSet)
  • strena - String interning
  • tower-lsp - LSP server implementation
  • tokio - Async runtime for LSP
See Cargo.toml for the complete dependency list.

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Build troubleshooting

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Parser generation

If you modify the grammar files, LALRPOP will automatically regenerate the parser during build. This happens via the build script.

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Rust edition

Walrus uses Rust edition 2024: 
[package]
edition = "2024"
Ensure you have a compatible Rust version installed.

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Clean rebuild

If you encounter build issues, try a clean rebuild: 
cargo clean
cargo build --release

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