Undo / Redo and Optimization Level features in Runtime Compiled C++.

I've just merged the code for two new features I've been working on into the master branch & repo for RCC++. Check out the video for a quick introduction to what these do - for HD video click on the vimeo link.

The Undo / Redo feature allows developers to move backwards and forwards between changes made to code in their running program, and as this doesn't involve compilation it can be extremely fast. I find this very useful for comparing subtle changes, and for performance profiling. Note that by default the history size is 0, so the feature is disabled, and this doesn't alter or keep any source code changes. For more details on how to use the new Undo / Redo feature see the wiki.

The Optimization Level feature, used in the video to get Optimize for Debug in Release code, is a simple set of optimization controls for Runtime Compiled C++. The enumeration RCppOptimizationLevel can be used to control what level of optimization is used; for example the video demonstrates switching between RCCPPOPTIMIZATIONLEVEL_DEBUG and RCCPPOPTIMIZATIONLEVEL_DEFAULT. For many advanced developers who wish to control their own optimizations, the RCCPPOPTIMIZATIONLEVEL_NOT_SET can be used so that they can control their own settings via the additional compile options. Once again see the wiki for more information on using Optmization Levels.

The latest code also corrects a bug where the additional compile and link options were not being sent to the Posix (Linux / Mac OS X) compiler. Posix (gcc and clang++) compile options are appended to the compile string, and link options are appended with a preceding -Wl, so should use comma separated parameters.

Runtime Compiled C++ is in Kythera, the AI behind Star Citizen.

Debug view of Kythera in action during a dogfight in Star Citizen

Moon Collider and Cloud Imperium recently announced that the hugely ambitious crowd funded space sim Star Citizen has its AI powered by Kythera. Regular followers of our blog might spot that Moon Collider is helmed by Matthew Jack, co-founder of Runtime Compiled C++. Naturally Matthew turned to using RCC++ for making it possible to change high-level code such as behaviour selection and behaviours (more details on the Kythera website). With Kythera behind other upcoming games I expect RCC++ usage to continue to grow.

In addition to some amazing games featuring RCC++, Moon Collider (previously Intelligent Artefacts) have been contributing to RCC++ development and helping to fund me taking time away from my own project Avoyd (which uses RCC++ for almost the entire code-base) to develop new features for RCC++.

I'm looking forwards to hearing more from Moon Collider, Cloud Imperium, and other developers using Kythera about their experience with RCC++ in future, and will post any relevant news on the blog. If you happen to be in San Francisco for the GDC Conference, Matthew and the rest of the Kythera team will be there, so do try to meet up to find out more about their AI middleware and RCC++.

Introducing Runtime Compiled Projects

I've finally gotten around to testing and integrating a bunch of work on RCC++ which I've had on my development fork for a while. The main feature was requested by the team behind Kythera AI (previously Intelligent Artefacts and now Moon Collider) who've been sponsoring much of the recent work on RCC++. They've found that it would be beneficial to be able to set compile options such as include and library paths on a per-module basis, so we've introduced a feature called 'Projects'. Read more about that on our wiki page for Using ProjectIds and Projects.

For the complete list of changes, see the pull request.

Video: RCC++ at the 2012 Develop Conference

Rapid Development with Runtime Compiled C++
Transcript and slides

The wonderful folk who organise the yearly Develop Conference in Brighton, UK, have given us permission to publish the video we took of our 2012 talk on RCC++.

Looking back at the talk Runtime Compiled C++ has come a long way, with Mac OS X and Linux support along with a host of features which make it easier to use. Even more developers have implemented runtime compilation, with the Molecule Engine adding support for C++ code as scripts, and Seiya Ishibashi (@i_saint) having developed a commercial plugin for Visual Studio called Alcantarea along with a Dynamic Patcher available on Github which is apparently used by Riot Games.