Architecture learning path

Use the smallest depth that answers your question. The Wist compiler pipeline and the generic Language Authoring route are related but not identical.

30-minute orientation

1. Mental Model
2. Physical Project Map
3. Lowering and Route Walkthrough
4. Current Architecture Status
5. Limitations

Outcome: you should be able to explain the difference between Wist, Wist dialect composition and the generic Language Authoring SDK.

Two-hour compiler/runtime path

1. Wist Pipeline
2. Bytecode and AIR
3. Runtime Composition
4. Backends and Semantic Parity
5. Composition Explainability
6. Debug Trace v2

Outcome: you should be able to follow one Wist program from source through frontend artifacts, runtime selection and execution.

Generic SDK path

1. External Language Authoring Quickstart
2. Packages and Contributions
3. Typed Artifact Routing
4. Runtime Lifecycle and Policy
5. Deep SDK Architecture

Outcome: you should be able to describe how a non-Wist package contributes transformations and exact backend executors without passing through Wist AST, Bytecode or AIR.

Optimizer and SSA path

1. AIR Reference
2. Callable-first SSA
3. SSA Coverage Matrix
4. SSA Route Tests
5. SSA Route Correctness Release

Outcome: you should understand the verifier-gated AIR -> SSA -> passes -> AIR route, its supported subset and its failure/fallback policies.

Code-reading anchors

Use Physical Project Map to map each concept to projects and tests. Read implementation in this order:

public API or sample
-> orchestration/builder
-> immutable plan or artifact contract
-> runtime implementation
-> focused tests
-> evidence/release record

Do not begin with the largest solution-wide service-registration file; it hides ownership boundaries that are clearer in package builders, contracts and focused tests.