PLDI 2024 and 2025: Relevant Code-Generation PapersRecent work from the flagship PL conference on lightweight backends, baseline JIT design, superoptimization for stack bytecode, and library composition that sidesteps heavyweight compilation.
POPL 2024 and 2025: Compiler-Construction PapersRecent foundational work from POPL and its co-located CPP (Certified Programs and Proofs) workshop on verified compilation, secure calling conventions, and packet-filter codegen. Less directly applicable to a "naive emitter" than PLDI, but instructive for the verification story MEP-42 may eventually want.
MLIR Dialect Literature 2023-2026The Triton dialect (OpenAI, GPU codegen), the IREE dialect (Google, ML compiler), Mojo's MLIR-based KGEN compiler, and the broader trend of language frontends as MLIR dialects. The "if we wanted to be ambitious" backend story for Mochi.
Cranelift Internals: ISLE, Proof-Carrying Code, and the Portable Backend StoryThe most actively researched mid-tier compiler backend of the 2020s. ISLE for instruction selection, proof-carrying code for Wasm-sandbox memory accesses, and VeriISLE for verified instruction-lowering rules. Where the "design and implementation of a portable codegen framework" line of work currently lives.
Compiler Textbooks Relevant to a Naive Mochi Backend (2022-2026)The published material a Mochi engineer should keep open while implementing MEP-42 phase 1. Cooper/Torczon 3rd ed for the canonical theory, Nystrom for a hands-on bytecode compiler walkthrough, Appel for the verified-compiler-curious, plus 2024-2026 course materials covering naive backends.
The Compile-Time vs Runtime Trade-OffA conceptual essay on where Mochi MEP-42 should sit on the curve from "compile slowly, run fast" (LLVM -O3) through "compile and run at medium speed" (Cranelift, B3) to "compile instantly, run okay" (copy-and-patch, Sparkplug). Includes a back-of-envelope budget derived from MEP-17 and MEP-23 bench numbers.