#compiler backend

QBE 1.3 was released on June 2, 2026, adding roughly 7,000 lines of code while removing 1,500, introducing metaprogramming capabilities, performance improvements to close the CoreMark gap, and expanded cross-platform support. This release brings QBE closer to its goal of achieving 70% of GCC -O2 performance, making it a more viable compact backend for systems programming and compiler projects like Hare and cproc. The performance improvements focus on optimizing hot functions in the CoreMark benchmark, such as eeisdigit() and crcu8(), through classic optimization passes. Metaprogramming simplifies backend development by generating code automatically.