Fil-C

Welcome to Fil-C, a memory safe implementation of the C and C++ programming languages you already know and love.

What is Fil-C?

Fil-C is a fanatically compatible memory-safe implementation of C and C++. Lots of software compiles and runs with Fil-C with zero or minimal changes. All memory safety errors are caught as Fil-C panics. Fil-C achieves this using a combination of concurrent garbage collection and invisible capabilities (InvisiCaps). Every possibly-unsafe C and C++ operation is checked. Fil-C has no unsafe escape hatch of any kind.

Key Features

• Memory Safety: Advanced runtime checks to prevent exploitable memory safety errors. Unlike other approaches to increasing the safety of C, Fil-C achieves complete memory safety with zero escape hatches.
• C and C++ Compatibility: Your C or C++ software most likely compiles and runs in Fil-C with zero changes. Many open source programs work great in Fil-C. Even advanced features like threads, atomics, exceptions, signal handling, longjmp/setjmp, and shared memory (mmap style or Sys-V style) work.
• Modern Tooling: Compiler is based on a recent version of clang, supports all clang extensions, most GCC extensions, and works with existing C/C++ build systems (make, autotools, cmake, meson, etc).

Getting Started

Grab a recent release, run ./setup.sh, and compile your favorite C program with build/bin/clang:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello from Fil-C!\n");
    return 0;
}

License

Fil-C's compiler is licensed under Apache 2. Fil-C's runtime is licensed under BSD 2-clause. Fil-C's standard library is licensed under MIT.

Documentation

• Installation Guide
• List of programs ported to Fil-C
• InvisiCaps by Example
• Explanation of Fil-C Disassembly
• More on GitHub

Community

Join the Fil-C Discord community to discuss the language implementation, share projects, and contribute to its development.

Fil-C: Systems programming with confidence.