FAQ #

Which platforms are supported? #

	arm64	x86-64
🐧 Linux	✔️	✔️
🍏 Mac	✔️	✔️
🪟 Windows	✔️	✔️

How tiny is a Hello World? #

	arm64	x86-64
🐧 Linux	1.0 KiB	1.0 KiB
🍏 Mac	32.3 KiB	8.2 KiB
🪟 Windows	1.7 KiB	1.7 KiB

Are there any runtime benchmarks? #

Recursive Fibonacci benchmark (n = 35): #

	arm64	x86-64
C (-O3, gcc 15)	41.4 ms ± 1.4 ms	24.5 ms ± 3.2 ms
Q (2025-08-20)	54.2 ms ± 1.6 ms	34.8 ms ± 2.3 ms
Go (1.25, new GC)	57.7 ms ± 1.4 ms	37.9 ms ± 6.9 ms
C (-O0, gcc 15)	66.4 ms ± 1.5 ms	47.8 ms ± 4.4 ms

While the current results lag behind optimized C, this is an expected stage of development. I am actively working to improve the compiler's code generation to a level that can rival optimized C, and I expect a significant performance boost as this work progresses.

Rewrite of fnl in Q: #

A rewrite of fnl from Rust to Q resulted in a smaller executable with better performance characteristics.

	Lines of code	Binary size	Syscalls	CPU cycles	Time
fnl in Q - 2026-07-08	108	3.8 KiB	22	~8k	270.2 µs ± 171.6 µs
fnl in Rust - 2026-06-26	111	477.2 KiB	85	~500k	416.3 µs ± 224.9 µs

Note that this is not a 100% fair comparison as the implementation details differ. Do not trust benchmark data without validating the results yourself.

Are there any compiler benchmarks? #

The table below shows latency numbers on a 2015 Macbook:

	x86-64
q	78.6 ms ± 2.3 ms
go @1.25	364.5 ms ± 3.3 ms
clang @17.0.0	395.9 ms ± 3.3 ms
rustc @1.89.0	639.9 ms ± 3.1 ms
v @0.4.11	1117.0 ms ± 3.0 ms
zig @0.15.1	1315.0 ms ± 12.0 ms
odin @accdd7c2a	1748.0 ms ± 8.0 ms

Latency measures the time it takes a compiler to create an executable file with a nearly empty main function. It should not be confused with throughput.

Advanced benchmarks for throughput have not been conducted yet, but the following table shows timings in an extremely simplified test parsing 1000 Fibonacci functions named fib0 to fib999:

	x86-64
q	89.5 ms ± 2.4 ms
go @1.25	372.2 ms ± 5.3 ms
clang @17.0.0	550.8 ms ± 3.8 ms
rustc @1.89.0	1101.0 ms ± 4.0 ms
v @0.4.11	1256.0 ms ± 4.0 ms
zig @0.15.1	1407.0 ms ± 12.0 ms
odin @accdd7c2a	1770.0 ms ± 7.0 ms

What is the compiler based on? #

The backend is built on a Static Single Assignment (SSA) intermediate representation, the same approach used by mature compilers such as gcc, go, and llvm. SSA greatly simplifies the implementation of common optimization passes, allowing the compiler to produce relatively high-quality assembly code despite the project's early stage of development.

Can I use it for scripting? #

Yes. The compiler can run an entire script within a few microseconds.

!/usr/bin/env q
import io

main() {
	io.write("Hello\n")
}

You need to create a file with the contents above and add execution permissions via chmod +x. Now you can run the script without an explicit compiler build. The generated machine code runs directly from RAM if the OS supports it.

What's the minimum supported version of...? #

	Version	Year	Reason
🐧 Linux	5.16	2022	futex2
🍏 Mac	11.0	2020	Chained fixups
🪟 Windows	8.1	2013	FSGSBASE
🔲 x86-64 (Intel)	Ivy Bridge	2012	FSGSBASE
🔲 x86-64 (AMD)	Excavator	2015	FSGSBASE
🔲 arm64	8.1-A	2014	CAS
💻 Raspberry Pi	5	2023	CAS

If you need support for older hardware and software, feel free to send a PR with the required fallback mechanisms.

Why is it written in Go? #

Because of its readability and excellent support for concurrency.

It is also syntactically similar to Q, which will make things easier when the compiler is replaced by a self-hosted compiler in the future.

How do I pronounce the name? #

/ˈkjuː/ just like Q in the English alphabet.