Wick

Minimal expression language, multiple backends.

Part of the rhi ecosystem.

Overview

Wick is a minimal expression language that compiles to multiple backends. Small, ephemeral, perfectly formed—like a droplet condensed from logic. Parse once, emit to WGSL (GPU shaders), Cranelift (native JIT), or Lua (scripting).

Crates

Crate	Description
wick-core	Core AST and parsing (feature-gated conditionals and functions)
wick-cond	Conditional backend helpers for domain crates
wick-scalar	Scalar math: sin, cos, exp, lerp, etc.
wick-linalg	Linear algebra: Vec2-4, Mat2-4, dot, cross, etc.
wick-complex	Complex numbers: exp, log, polar, conjugate, etc.
wick-quaternion	Quaternions: rotation, slerp, axis-angle, etc.

Each domain crate includes self-contained backends (feature flags):

GPU Shaders:

• wgsl: WGSL (WebGPU)
• glsl: GLSL (OpenGL/Vulkan)

GPU Kernels:

• opencl: OpenCL (cross-platform GPU compute)
• cuda: CUDA (NVIDIA GPUs)
• hip: HIP (AMD ROCm, source-compatible with CUDA)

Text Codegen:

• rust: Rust source code
• c: C source code (embeddable, uses math.h)
• tokenstream: Rust TokenStream for proc-macros

JIT & Scripting:

• lua: Lua code generation + mlua execution (lua-codegen for WASM compatibility)
• cranelift: Cranelift JIT native compilation

Architecture

wick-core               # Syntax only: AST, parsing
    |
    +-- wick-cond       # Conditional backend helpers
    |
    +-- wick-scalar     # Scalar domain: f32/f64 math functions
    |
    +-- wick-linalg     # Linalg domain: Vec2, Vec3, Mat2, Mat3
    |
    +-- wick-complex    # Complex numbers: [re, im]
    |
    +-- wick-quaternion # Quaternions: [x, y, z, w], Vec3

Domain crates are independent. Each has:

• Generic over numeric type T: Numeric (supports f32, f64, i32, i64)
• Own FunctionRegistry<T> and eval<T>()
• Self-contained backend modules

Status & Roadmap

Production Ready

Core Language:

• Expression AST with let bindings
• Conditionals (Compare, And, Or, If) - feature-gated
• Function calls - feature-gated
• Expression optimization (constant folding, algebraic simplification)
• Robust parser with property-based testing

Domain Crates:

• wick-scalar - Scalar math (sin, cos, exp, lerp, etc.)
• wick-linalg - Linear algebra (Vec2-4, Mat2-4, dot, cross, normalize, etc.)
• wick-complex - Complex numbers (exp, log, polar, conjugate, etc.)
• wick-quaternion - Quaternions (rotation, slerp, axis-angle, etc.)
• wick-all - Unified value type for domain composition

Code Generation:

• WGSL backend (all domain crates)
• GLSL backend (all domain crates)
• OpenCL backend (all domain crates)
• CUDA backend (all domain crates)
• HIP backend (all domain crates, source-compatible with CUDA)
• Rust text backend (all domain crates)
• C text backend (all domain crates)
• TokenStream backend for proc-macros (all domain crates)
• Lua backend with codegen + execution (all domain crates)
• Cranelift JIT backend (all domain crates)

Tooling:

• Editor support: VSCode, TextMate, Tree-sitter (Neovim, Helix, Zed, Emacs)
• VitePress documentation site
• WASM bindings with module profiles (core, linalg, graphics, signal, full)
• CI/CD with exhaustive backend parity tests

In Progress

Web Playground:

• UI framework complete (SolidJS, editor, AST viewer)
• WASM integration pending (currently using mock data)
• Needs: real-time evaluation, variable input, feature toggles

Future Work

New Domains:

• Dual numbers (automatic differentiation)
• Rotors/spinors (geometric algebra)

External Backend Support:

• Pattern for external codegen crates (e.g., wick-linalg-metal)
• Shared type inference utilities across backends

See TODO.md for detailed implementation tracking.

License

MIT