Reverse-Compile Anything: The BRIK Lifter

The Problem: Legacy Code Is a Black Box

You have millions of lines of JavaScript, Python, C, Go, Rust, TypeScript — even COBOL. It works. Probably. Nobody is sure what it actually does at a formal level. Nobody can certify it. Nobody can prove it correct. The BRIK Lifter changes that.

The Lifter is a reverse compiler. It takes your existing source code and produces a PCD blueprint — a Printed Circuit Description that maps your logic to BRIK-64's 64 verified monomers. Instead of rewriting from scratch, you lift what you already have into the world of Digital Circuitality.

12 Languages, One Target

The Lifter ships with frontends for twelve languages:

Language        Frontend        Status
─────────────────────────────────────────
JavaScript      js_lang         ✓ Stable
TypeScript      ts_lang         ✓ Stable
Python          python          ✓ Stable
Rust            rust_lang       ✓ Stable
C               c_lang          ✓ Stable
C++             cpp_lang        ✓ Stable
Go              go_lang         ✓ Stable
COBOL           cobol           ✓ Stable
PHP             php_lang        ✓ Stable
Java            java_lang       ✓ Stable
Swift           swift_lang      ✓ Stable
Ruby            ruby_lang       ✓ Stable

Each frontend parses the source language into an AST, identifies computational patterns, and maps them to BRIK-64 monomers. The output is always the same: a .pcd file that can be compiled, certified, and emitted to any target.

How It Works: The Lifting Pipeline

The pipeline has four stages:

Source Code → AST → Pattern Recognition → Monomer Mapping → PCD

1. PARSE      Language-specific frontend parses to AST
2. RECOGNIZE  Pattern matcher identifies arithmetic, logic,
              control flow, I/O, string ops, memory patterns
3. MAP        Each pattern maps to one or more BRIK-64 monomers
4. EMIT       Monomers are composed with EVA algebra into PCD

The pattern recognizer is the critical stage. It doesn't just translate syntax — it identifies the computational intent behind your code. An if/else becomes a conditional composition. A for loop over an array becomes a sequential fold. A set of independent calculations becomes a parallel composition.

Liftability Scores

Not all code lifts equally. The Lifter produces a liftability score from 0.0 to 1.0 that tells you how much of your source maps cleanly to verified monomers:

brikc lift analyze your_code.js

  Liftability Report
  ──────────────────────────────
  Total functions:     24
  Fully liftable:      18  (0.95+)
  Partially liftable:   4  (0.60-0.94)
  Low liftability:      2  (< 0.60)
  ──────────────────────────────
  Overall score:       0.87

  Top patterns detected:
    Arithmetic chains    ████████████ 12
    Conditional logic    ██████       6
    String operations    ████         4
    I/O operations       ██           2

A score of 1.0 means every operation maps to a certified monomer — your entire program can achieve Φ_c = 1. A score of 0.6 means 60% maps to monomers; the rest will use extended (uncertified) operations and the circuit will be partially open.

COBOL: The High-Value Target

There are an estimated 220 billion lines of COBOL running in production today — processing 95% of ATM transactions, 80% of in-person financial transactions, and most government systems. This code is decades old, poorly documented, and maintained by a shrinking workforce.

The COBOL frontend is specifically designed for banking and financial logic. COBOL's rigid structure — divisions, sections, paragraphs, PERFORM loops, COMPUTE statements — actually maps extremely wellto PCD's monomer model. Financial arithmetic, conditional business logic, and data transformations are exactly the patterns that BRIK-64 monomers handle natively.

brikc lift legacy_transfer.cob

  Lifting: legacy_transfer.cob (COBOL)
  ──────────────────────────────
  PROCEDURE DIVISION paragraphs:  12
  COMPUTE statements:             8  → arithmetic monomers
  IF/EVALUATE blocks:             15 → conditional composition
  PERFORM loops:                  4  → sequential composition
  ──────────────────────────────
  Liftability: 0.91
  Output: legacy_transfer.pcd

Install and Use

Install the BRIK-64 toolchain with one command:

curl -fsSL https://brik64.dev/install | bash

Then lift any supported source file:

brikc lift your_code.js
brikc lift server.py
brikc lift main.rs
brikc lift processor.c
brikc lift service.go
brikc lift transactions.cob
brikc lift app.ts

The output is a .pcd file that you can immediately compile, certify, and emit to any target language — including back to the original language, but now with formal verification.

The Migration Path

The Lifter isn't a one-shot tool. It's the beginning of a migration path:

1. LIFT      Reverse-compile existing code to PCD
2. ANALYZE   Review liftability scores, identify gaps
3. CERTIFY   Run TCE on lifted circuits
4. ITERATE   Refactor low-scoring sections
5. EMIT      Compile PCD to any target language
6. VERIFY    Confirm behavioral equivalence

You don't have to lift everything at once. Start with the most critical paths — the functions that handle money, the logic that controls access, the calculations that must be correct. Lift those first, certify them, and gradually expand coverage.

The goal is not to replace your codebase overnight. The goal is to give you a formal blueprint of what your code actually does — and a path to making it provably correct.