solcjs

solcjs is a JavaScript-based implementation of the Solidity compiler that runs in Node.js or in the browser. It provides a way to compile Solidity source code without requiring a native C++ compiler, by using a JavaScript or WebAssembly–based version of the solc compiler. It is part of the Solidity project maintained by the Ethereum Foundation and related collaborators.

Solcjs exposes the standard solc interface and can produce artifacts such as bytecode, ABI, and metadata. It accepts the same inputs as the native compiler and supports the common compiler options, including optimizing and output selections. The compiled artifacts can be written to disk or consumed by other tools in the Ethereum toolchain.

Installation and usage: solcjs is distributed as part of the solc npm package. It can be installed globally or locally and invoked from the command line. A typical usage is solcjs --bin --abi --overwrite -o build MyContract.sol, which outputs the binary and ABI to the build directory. Solcjs can be configured to use a specific Solidity compiler version by selecting a prebuilt binary from the official solc-bin repository; this is useful to lock in a particular language version for compatibility.

Compatibility and ecosystem: solcjs runs in modern Node.js environments and in browsers with appropriate bundling. It is widely used by development tools such as Truffle, Hardhat, and Remix as a drop-in compiler backend or for in-browser compilation. Performance is generally slower than native solc, but it enables flexible deployment and offline use.