kammce

Funding Links: https://github.com/sponsors/kammce

Name: Khalil Estell
Location: Bay Area, California
Kind: user
Followers: 114
Following: 17
Total stars: 36
Repositories count: 45
Created at: 2022-11-06T08:10:28.234Z
Updated at: 2025-02-26T06:17:29.908Z
Last synced at: 2025-02-26T06:17:29.908Z

GitHub Sponsors Profile

🚀 Revolutionizing C++ Exception Handling
Hello, I'm Khalil Estell! 👋
I'm an ISO C++ committee member and a volunteer staff member at San Jose State University, dedicated to improving a critical mechanism in C++: exception handling.
🌟 The Vision
My goal is to unlock the full potential of C++ exceptions, making them a cornerstone of efficient, reliable, and powerful software development. Here's how:
🔍 Deep Error Insight and Control
The C++ Insight tool would provide unprecedented visibility into error handling, allowing developers to:

See all errors and their origins
Optimize error management strategies
Fine-tune application performance and safety

💪 C++'s Competitive Edge
Properly optimized table-based Itanium ABI exceptions give C++ a unique advantages over errors-as-values:

⚡ Superior performance in critical applications
📦 Efficient use of space in constrained environments
🛡️ Enhanced safety in critical systems

🔮 Future-Proofing C++
By improving this core feature, we're preparing C++ for the next generation of software challenges, from IoT to high-frequency trading and beyond.
🔬 My Research
For the past 3 years, I've been diving deep into C++ exceptions. My findings challenge common misconceptions:
C++ exceptions, specifically table-based Itanium ABI exceptions, offer:

⚡ Higher performance
📦 Smaller binary sizes

Yes, you read that right! These benefits apply at the assembly level, making them relevant not just to C++, but to all languages compiled into machine code.
🎯 Current Focus
I'm developing a libhal-exceptions which is a C++ exception handling library for ARM Cortex M processors that is:

🏎️ Currently 88% faster than GCC's implementation
🥇 Targeting 92% improvement after final optimizations
📊 Deterministic memory usage
⏱️ Deterministic runtime
💾 ROM cost of ~5kB (or less)

🛠️ Upcoming Project: C++ Insights Tool
This year, I'm leading a team at SJSU to create a powerful C++ insights tool. Given a binary file input, it will provide:

📊 Set of all types thrown in your application
📍 Location of all throws
🎯 Location of all catches
🚫 Types never caught
⚠️ Exceptions that will terminate your application (with stack traces)

🤝 Support My Work
By sponsoring this project, you're contributing to:

📚 Advancing C++ exception handling research
🔧 Developing faster, more efficient exception handling libraries
🔍 Creating tools for better exception analysis and management

Your support helps make C++ exceptions a more viable and attractive option for high-performance, small-footprint applications.
Thank you for considering sponsorship! Together, we can transform C++ exceptions from a misunderstood feature into a powerful tool, cementing C++ as the go-to solution for high-performance, space-conscious, and safety-critical applications. 💪