SKSkiFire13·Oct 11, 2024
That doesn't require a whole new frontend, just a GCC backend will be enough. This is in fact already being worked on with rustc_codegen_gcc https://github.com/rust-lang/rustc_codegen_gcc
In An Update on Gccrs Developmentrust-lang
rustc_codegen_gcc
Rust2021–2026
rust-lang / rustc_codegen_gcc
rustc_codegen_gcc
libgccjit AOT codegen for rustc
18Distinct people
22Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
1.2KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
libgccjit AOT codegen for rustc
GitHub
Where it is used
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What people are saying
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Also in these discussions
- rust-gcc/gccrs · linked in 4 of the same discussions
Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 6:01:08 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year22 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2021-12-08 16:07:15 UTC to 2026-07-03 22:09:52 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
What Hacker News says
2 sources>> Is it possible that rust also uses MLIR as backend and thus benefits from a modern backend?
Compiler backends require corresponding compiler frontends to do lexical analysis and parsing of the programming language into the intermediate representation (IR) that the backend accepts. The Rust compiler frontend currently lexes and compiles Rust source code into LLVM IR.
It is possible to create a Rust frontend that lexes and compiles into other intermediate representations and there are several related projects:
1) gccrs (https://github.com/Rust-GCC/gccrs) is creating a GCC frontend for Rust that can be used with the GCC backend.
2) Cranelift (https://cranelift.dev/) is creating an alternate LLVM IR-based backend for Rust written in Rust since the current LLVM backend is written in C++.
3) rustc_codegen_gcc (https://github.com/rust-lan
Read the rest
g/rustc_codegen_gcc) is creating a bridge between the Rust compiler LLVM IR frontend and the GCC backend.
So, while it is possible to create a Rust frontend to lex and parse Rust source code into MLIR I am not aware that anyone is working on it.