Language Overview

Pure compiles TypeScript and JavaScript to native machine code. It is not a wrapper around Node, Bun, or any other JavaScript engine. The output is a standalone binary that runs your program directly.

Mental model

Think of Pure the same way you think of a Go or Rust compiler: you write source code, run a compiler, get a binary. That binary embeds the logic of your program. It does not bundle a JavaScript runtime.

This has a few practical consequences:

• Cold start is deterministic and fast. There is no module resolution, no JIT warm-up, no require() cache. The binary starts in milliseconds.
• eval, new Function(), and dynamic require()/import() work. Code that can be resolved at compile time is compiled ahead of time as normal. A call that can’t — a runtime eval, a require() with a variable path — still works; it just isn’t a compile error.

TypeScript support

Pure supports TypeScript 6.0 syntax, including decorators. Type annotations are stripped at compile time — Pure does not type-check your code, so run tsc --noEmit or use your editor’s type checker to catch type errors before you build.

JavaScript version

Pure targets ES2022 and later, including CommonJS (require()) for compatibility. Node.js and Bun compatibility is tested against Node.js 26.6.0 and Bun 1.4.0.

Sections

• OS support — platform targets, libc options, binary characteristics