# Programming Languages Intermediate RepresentatiON
[](https://github.com/vaivaswatha/pliron/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
`pliron` is an extensible compiler IR framework, inspired by [MLIR](https://mlir.llvm.org/docs/LangRef/)
and written in safe Rust.
## Build and Test
* Install the [rust toolchain](https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install).
* `cargo build` and `cargo test` should build the compiler and run the testsuite.
* To see a simple IR constructed (by the [print_simple](tests/ir_construct.rs) test),
use the following command:
cargo test print_simple -- --show-output
It should print something like:
```mlir
builtin.module @bar {
^block_1v1():
builtin.func @foo: builtin.function<() -> (builtin.int<si64>)> {
^entry_block_2v1():
c0_op_3v1_res0 = test.constant builtin.integer <0x0: builtin.int<si64>>;
test.return c0_op_3v1_res0
}
}
```
* `pliron` provides an [`llvm-opt` tool](pliron-llvm/README.md) that
can parse LLVM-IR bitcode into the LLVM dialect and output LLVM-IR
bitcode.
## Using the Library
`pliron` is currently in a nascent stage and not yet useful for
real-world use. In the future it can be used by just adding
a dependence to the [crate](https://crates.io/crates/pliron)
in your Rust project.
## Documentation
* Introduction and motivation are covered in the [introductory wiki article](https://github.com/vaivaswatha/pliron/wiki/Introduction).
* The wiki also has a [comparison](https://github.com/vaivaswatha/pliron/wiki/Comparison-with-other-compiler-frameworks) of `pliron`
with other compiler projects, touching upon some design decisions.
* Code documentation can be found on
[docs.rs](https://docs.rs/pliron/latest/pliron/).