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Jul 12, 2026

The fixed point: a compiler written in its own language just reproduced itself, byte for byte

Verbose is a small proof-carrying language whose compiler is written in Verbose itself. Its self-hosted emitter, fed its own 855 KB source, produced a binary bit-identical to the one that built it — gen1 == gen2, same sha256, same 1,302,980 bytes. The classic self-hosting fixed point, its strongest form. Here's what that means, and the failure — misdiagnosed, then actually understood — that almost stopped it.

Jul 12, 20263 min read0 reactions0 comments