jolt/host/chez/seed
Yogthos 537cb360b4 Add a Clojure FFI so libraries can bind native code (jolt.ffi)
A jolt library can now bind its own native dependencies and expose a Clojure API
over them — no jolt built-in required. This is the foundation for moving the
http-client / db / adapter functionality out of the host and into real libraries.

- jolt.ffi/foreign-fn (sugar: defcfn) is a compiler special form: a compile-time
  -typed C signature lowers to a real Chez foreign-procedure (analyzer :ffi-fn ->
  backend foreign-procedure), so calls are typed and marshaled, not eval'd.
- host/chez/ffi.ss provides the rest under jolt.ffi: load-library, alloc/free,
  read/write/sizeof, ptr<->string, null/null?. Loaded after the loader snapshot
  so a library's (require '[jolt.ffi]) still loads the macro side.
- Types: int/uint/long/ulong/int64/uint64/size_t/ssize_t/iptr/uptr/double/float/
  pointer/string/void/uint8/char.

Validated end to end: a pure-Clojure file binds libc (getpid/strlen/abs) and
libsqlite3 (open/prepare/step/column/finalize over out-param pointers) and runs a
query. Gate test test/chez/ffi-binding-test.ss (make ffi); selfhost holds.
2026-06-22 10:59:51 -04:00
..
image.ss Add a Clojure FFI so libraries can bind native code (jolt.ffi) 2026-06-22 10:59:51 -04:00
prelude.ss Fix arg evaluation order + host interop gaps so reitit/selmer/honeysql run 2026-06-22 05:26:09 -04:00
README.md Docs: Chez-only, drop the Janet-era references and obsolete migration notes 2026-06-22 09:05:35 -04:00

Chez bootstrap seed

These two files are the bootstrap compiler for jolt — the seed that makes the build self-hosting:

  • prelude.ss — the clojure.core prelude (all tiers + clojure.string/walk/ template/edn/set/pprint) as Scheme def-var! forms.
  • image.ss — the compiler image (jolt.ir + jolt.analyzer + jolt.backend-scheme) as Scheme def-var! forms.

Both are generated, not hand-written. They are checked in because a fresh checkout must be able to build jolt-on-Chez using only Chez: host/chez/bootstrap.ss loads this seed, then rebuilds the prelude + image from the .clj/.ss sources via the on-Chez compiler (read → analyze → emit, all on Chez). The seed is a joint byte-fixpoint: rebuilding from an up-to-date seed reproduces it exactly. make selfhost (host/chez/selfcheck.sh) runs host/chez/bootstrap.ss and diffs the rebuilt artifacts against the checked-in seed.

Re-minting

When the seed sources change (the core tiers, the compiler namespaces, the host contract, the reader, emit-image.ss), the seed drifts and make selfhost fails. Re-mint it by running host/chez/bootstrap.ss and writing the freshly rebuilt prelude/image back to host/chez/seed/prelude.ss / host/chez/seed/image.ss, then commit the refreshed files.