CJIT is a single-file (<2MB), portable C compiler and interpreter built on TinyCC, inspired by HolyC, for instant C execution without an IDE.
Key Takeaways
Built on Fabrice Bellard’s TinyCC and inspired by Terry Davis’s HolyC; developed by Jaromil and the Dyne.org crew.
Ships as one file under 2MB with no EULA, no IDE required, and no installation ceremony on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Supports calling functions from any dynamic shared library at runtime, enabling rapid integration with existing system libs.
Targets rapid prototyping workflows: write and execute C applications immediately without a build system.
SDL support is bundled, making graphical C application development a first-class use case out of the box.
Hacker News Comment Review
One commenter flagged a documentation inconsistency: the “hello, world” example uses fprintf(stderr, ...) instead of stdout, which is unusual and may trip up newcomers.
The bundled SDL graphics support (via dyne.org/cjit/graphics.html) drew positive notice as a practical “batteries included” feature for quick graphical C prototyping.
Notable Comments
@michaelcampbell: flags fprintf(stderr, ...) as the hello-world example – “in no instance of any C compiler I’ve come across” is that the classic example.
@uticus: points to the SDL graphics page as evidence CJIT ships with real batteries-included graphical support.
