Create the qir-stdlib artifact

[maliasadi]

Context:
The sparse quantum state simulator in the qir-runner is backed by qir-stdlib. This library can serve as the foundational implementation for QIR instructions across various quantum runtimes that adhere to the QIR specifications. For instance, the C++ quantum runtime in PennyLane-Catalyst leverages libqir_stdlib.a for implementation of basic QIR instructions.

However, it's important to note that the official release of neither libqir_stdlib.a nor libqir_stdlib.so are yet available. Consequently, for any other quantum runtime aiming to include the qir-stdlib, it is necessary to install the Rust compiler and build the package with dependencies on the machine. To remove this complexity, we would like to propose including the qir-stdlib artifact as part of the release; therefore facilitating the process for integrating the library into third-party quantum runtimes.

Description of the Change:

This primarily necessitates the creation of the qir-stdlib artifact including libqir_stdlib.a, qir_stdlib.h and qir_stdlib.def.

Benefits:

The release of qir-stdlib would enable both first- and third-party contributors to utilize and expand upon the standard in other runtimes and simulators that incorporate the QIR interface without any requirements to clone and build the source code.

In addition, this would mitigate users from the need to install the Rust compiler and packages, especially considering that not all quantum runtime ecosystems are implemented in Rust.

[maliasadi]

@microsoft-github-policy-service agree company="Xanadu"

[swernli]

Thanks for this update! We're glad you are finding the library useful.

[maliasadi]

Thanks @swernli for reviewing and approving the PR! Do you happen to have a tentative schedule for the next release of qir-runner, including the qir-stdlib artifact?

[swernli]

We can get the release process started this week. The amd64 binaries will get published first, but it takes some extra work to manually compile the MacOS arm64 binaries, so those may show up in the release a little later.