I have a slightly unusual job funded by a grant under https://nlnet.nl ! Everything is flexible -- think of it as an open source project where you happen to get paid.
We started in June, and there are currently 2 part-time contributors. We can use more help!
The job is to work on a shell interpreter in C++/Python with a TINY and cool garbage-collected runtime. Depending on your interest, you can work on:
(1) Data-structure heavy, performance-sensitive C++ code -- e.g. mark bitmaps for the GC, small value optimization, lazy sweeping, hash tables, and more. We have an objective goal that enables creativity: make the shell as fast as bash. Currently it's 1.6x slower on a long batch workload.
This runtime will let us add real data structures and JSON to a compatible shell! ( http://www.oilshell.org/blog/2021/01/why-a-new-shell.html )
(2) Semi-automatically translating code from typed Python to C++. This can be simple (adding MyPy types) or involved (compiling Python's yield to state machines)
(3) Benchmarks, builds, testing -- I like automating everything, and shell works great here :)
We've made great progress lately -- here's a screencast of our ~6000 line GC runtime working on real code (note debug output from the GC):
https://asciinema.org/a/547312?t=30 (this worked as of 11 days ago, detailed blog post upcoming)
Some background: A Garbage-Collected Heap in C++, Shaped Like Typed Python
https://www.oilshell.org/blog/2022/05/gc-heap.html (and more on the blog)
Everything about the project is open, so please take a look and contact me at andy@oilshell.org if interested. We can chat online or do a video call (I'm based in the USA). We can also arrange a code walkthrough or PAID "trial period". We want people who will have fun working on these problems.
Compensation: First grant was for 50K euros, and a potential second grant would be for 50K, to be split up among contributors.
https://github.com/oilshell/oil/wiki/Where-Contributors-Have... -- We now have a fast and flexible Ninja build, as well as a comprehensive CI that keeps the master branch green
Contact: andy@oilshell.org