70 lines
2.6 KiB
Org Mode
70 lines
2.6 KiB
Org Mode
#+title: ARL - Issue tracker
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#+date: 2026-01-23
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* TODO Write a minimum working transpiler
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We need to be able to compile the following file:
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[[file:examples/hello-world.arl]]. All it does is print "Hello,
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world!". Should be relatively straightforward.
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** DONE Read file
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** DONE Parser
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** TODO Intermediate representation (Virtual Machine)
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[[file:src/arl/vm/]]
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Before we get into generating C code and then compiling it, it might
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be worth translating the parsed ARL code into a generic IR.
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The IR should be much more primitive in its semantics, and force clear
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requirements of the platform we're compiling to. This way, at the
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code generator stage we can figure out:
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- what can we reasonably use from the target platform to satisfy
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requirements?
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- what do we need to hand-roll on the target in order to make this
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work?
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Essentially, we want to write a virtual machine, and translate ARL
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code into bytecode for that VM. Goals:
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- Easier to optimise IR bytecode than the AST of our original program
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- Easier to imagine translations from that IR bytecode into target
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platform code
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*** TODO Minimal IR representation
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We need the following clear items in our IR:
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- Static type values
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- Static type variables (possible DeBrujin numbering or other such
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mechanism to abstract naming away and leave it to the target to
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generate effectively)
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- Strongly typed primitive operators (numeric, strings, I/O) with
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packed arguments
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Read about [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-address_code][TAC]].
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*** TODO IR Compiler
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We should have a rough grouping between AST objects and this IR. As
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ARL is Forth-like, we can use the stack semantics to generate this IR
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as we walk the AST in a linear manner.
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Consider the following ARL code:
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#+begin_src text
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34 35 +
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#+end_src
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When we walk through this code:
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- 34 (an integer) is pushed onto the stack
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- 35 (an integer) is pushed onto the stack
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- + is encountered
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- Pop two values off the stack and verify their type against the
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contract for "+" (something like (-> i32 i32 i32))
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- Generate IR, something like ~prim-add(34, 35)~
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*** TODO Consider optimisers
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Certainly we should perform optimisations on the IR itself before
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passing it over to the code generator. Currently we haven't got much
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in the way of optimisations to consider, but it may be worth
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considering.
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** TODO Code generator
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[[file:src/arl/target-c/]]
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This should take the IR translated from the AST generated by the
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parser, and write equivalent C code.
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After we've generated the C code, we need to call a C compiler on it
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to generate a binary. GCC and Clang allow passing source code through
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stdin, so we don't even need to write to disk first which is nice.
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