Every NEScript condition (`if x < N`, `while i < end`, etc.)
lowers in two IR ops: `CmpX(d, a, b)` materializes a 0/1
boolean into temp `d`, and the block's terminator
`Branch(d, t, f)` reads `d` and branches on it. The codegen
faithfully emitted both halves — `LDA / CMP / branch-to-true /
LDA #0 / JMP done / true: LDA #1 / done:`, then later
`LDA d_slot / BNE branch_t / JMP branch_f` — about 14 cycles +
13 bytes per condition.
The 6502's natural pattern is one `CMP` + one branch on the
flags it just set: 8 cycles, no register-clobber, no temp slot.
Detect the canonical pattern in `gen_block` (last op is an 8-bit
`CmpX` whose dest temp is what the terminator branches on, with
no other uses) and emit the fused form directly via a new
`gen_cmp_branch` helper. The temp's allocation, store, load, and
the terminator's branch fall away.
Bookkeeping subtlety: the source temps `a`/`b` must be retired
*after* the fused emit, not before — the original `gen_op` order
is "emit body of op, then `retire_op_sources`". Decrementing
their use counts before the CMP would free their slots while
they were still live; `load_temp(a)` would then re-allocate `a`
to whatever stale slot the free list popped next. Got hit by
this on the first attempt — the SHA-256 example dutifully
returned all-zero hashes until the order was fixed.
Updated `ir_codegen_local_label_suffix_is_bank_namespaced`: the
test was relying on `if x == 0` to emit `__ir_cmp_*` labels for
its bank-namespacing check, which the fusion now collapses into
direct branches. Switched the test source to a shift-by-variable
pattern (`x = x << n`), which always emits `__ir_shift_loop_*`
labels regardless of future cmp/branch optimizations.
Cycle savings: ~6 cycles per condition. The SHA-256 rotate
loops alone account for ~9K cycles per block. Across all
examples the cycle drift shows up as audio-tick phase shifts
in five timing-sensitive ROMs (`audio_demo`, `friendly_assets`,
`noise_triangle_sfx`, `platformer`, `sfx_pitch_envelope`); the
goldens for those are refreshed in this commit, plus
`platformer.gif` (the only demo gif whose bytes actually moved).
Verified: cargo test/clippy/fmt clean on rustc 1.95.0;
emulator harness 34/34; reproducibility diff clean; SHA-256 of
"NES" still computes to AE9145DB…4E0D.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01FRmSBruVWCufm3LsUVMs8v
The compiler is deterministic: rebuilding any example produces
a byte-identical ROM, verified across all 22 examples and all
four mappers (NROM, MMC1, UxROM, MMC3). That means the .nes
files are reproducible artefacts and can live next to their
sources without drift.
Benefits:
- Users can clone the repo and open any example in an emulator
without installing a Rust toolchain or running the compiler.
- The emulator harness can trust examples/*.nes directly, so its
CI job no longer needs a compiler build or a "compile all
examples" loop — it just boots jsnes against the committed
ROMs and diffs each against its golden.
- ROM diffs in PRs are now meaningful: "this compiler change
flipped 17 bytes in hello_sprite.nes" is visible review
signal, not hidden behind the emulator golden.
Guard rails so the ROMs don't drift from their sources:
- .gitignore no longer excludes *.nes.
- The `examples` CI job rebuilds every .ne into /tmp and fails
loudly (with a GitHub error annotation pointing at the exact
cargo command to rerun) if any committed ROM differs.
- scripts/pre-commit does the same check locally.
- CLAUDE.md now states that editing a .ne file requires
rebuilding its .nes in the same commit, so future agents
won't miss the invariant.
Total footprint: 22 ROMs, 624 KB (avg 28 KB each — most are
NROM 24 KB; two banked examples are larger).
https://claude.ai/code/session_01BcCcHi6FUmTh8jC7UgkA3A
