Back End

The Back-End is the part that compiles down to Michelson. Instead of a single compilation step, it is separated in two parts.

Transpiler and Mini_C

The Transpiler is a function that takes as input the Typed AST, and outputs expressions in a language that is basically a Michelson based on with named variables and first-class-environments. On the one hand, there are cases in the AST like E_if_bool or E_make_empty_list that would be directly translated in Michelson like IF {} {} or NIL. On the other hand, there are cases in the AST like E_variable or E_environment_select that specifically target the compiler. The files of the Transpiler are in transpiler/, while those of Mini_c are in mini_c/.

Compiler

The previous model of compilation from LIGO to Michelson model was complicated. The current one is quite straightforward, where the environment of variables (x -> 12, y -> “foo”) is compiled as Michelson stack (12 :: foo). It has been simplified for multiple reasons: Having a simple model reduces its number of points of failure. Having a simple model makes optimising it easier. We submitted a change to the Tezos’ protocol that actually makes it more efficient.