Installing IRx

Published package

pip install pyirx

The distribution is named pyirx; Python code imports irx.

IRx requires Python 3.10 or newer. Translation uses llvmlite. Native object and executable workflows require an LLVM/Clang-compatible toolchain, while Arrow-backed features additionally require a C++20 compiler.

PyArrow and arx-arrowcpp-sources are installed dependencies. IRx uses their Arrow C++ include, source, library, and linker metadata for native runtime builds.

Source checkout

git clone https://github.com/arxlang/arx.git
cd arx
mamba env create --file conda/dev.yaml
conda activate arx
poetry install
makim irx.unittests

Direct RecordBatch Python API

The direct irx.record_batch ctypes API loads a standalone shared library. On first use it builds the library from packaged native sources; later uses verify the source/toolchain fingerprint and rebuild stale cache entries automatically. To pre-warm the cache explicitly:

python -c "from irx.builder.runtime.record_batch import ensure_record_batch_shared_library; ensure_record_batch_shared_library()"

The generated library, objects, and source/toolchain fingerprint are stored under ${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-~/.cache}/arxlang/irx/record_batch/abi-2 by default. Set IRX_NATIVE_CACHE_DIR to move the native cache or IRX_RECORD_BATCH_LIBRARY to use an exact library path. The loader rejects ABI mismatches and asks for a rebuild before configuring ctypes symbols.

IRx programs compiled through the Builder use runtime-feature artifact collection instead of this standalone ctypes setup.

Link modes

IRx emits PIC-compatible objects by default for modern PIE-default linkers. If a downstream manual link still requires non-PIE output, pass the equivalent of clang -no-pie or use Arx's --link-mode no-pie option.

The record_batch feature includes IPC file and stream formats, the C Data/C Stream bridge, checked Arx class adapters, and a POSIX TCP byte transport. Native source packaging includes these adapters; no separate service or Python serialization process is needed by a compiled executable. TCP is unavailable on Windows; file and C interface support do not require socket support. See the interoperability guide for supported types and executable examples.