PTN From Scratch

PTN compiles a growing subset of PHP into native binaries through a generic compiler/runtime path:

PHP source -> lexer/parser -> AST -> IR -> C runtime -> native executable

Rule: implement reusable PHP semantics. Do not special-case PHPT filenames, expected rows, or one-off outputs.

Current Shape

• Rust crate and phpc compiler binary.
• Boxed C runtime for PHP-like values.
• Native execution tests for parser, IR, backend, runtime, and selected PHP behavior.
• Top-level user functions include scoped __FUNCTION__ and __METHOD__ magic-constant coverage plus func_num_args(), func_get_arg(), and func_get_args() call-frame introspection, scalar type hints, and by-reference return aliases for variables, one-level array elements, local lifetimes, typed coercion, and plain-assignment separation.
• Direct variable references, array element references, and by-reference userland parameters cover the first COW/reference boundary slice.
• count() handles arrays and raises catchable TypeError diagnostics for non-array operands in the current boxed value domain.
• Bounded PHPT telemetry from /home/claude/php-src-phpt.

Status Files

• PROGRESS.md: compact test and porting dashboard.
• STATUS.md: current operating status.
• progress.md, progress.html, STATUS.html: short generated mirrors.

These files must stay under 500 words each. One progress patrol polecat refreshes them about every 10 minutes.

Commands

cargo test
tools/run-native-smoke-matrix.sh
tools/run-post-merge-cow-gate.sh
cargo build --bin phpc
PHPC_BIN="$PWD/target/debug/phpc" php /home/claude/php-src-phpt/run-tests.php -q -p "$PWD/target/debug/phpc" <manifest paths>

Detailed history lives in beads, commits, and merge requests, not in this file.