mirror of
https://github.com/zekexiao/pocketlang.git
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9dade8313f
It's just the types that were added and only object creation and garbage collection of that types are implemented, the reset of the implementation is not part of this commit.
117 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
117 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
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<p align="center" >
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<img src="https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/41085900/161365989-f3fd47bb-7ea7-4114-8e9b-2224e1193079.png" width="500" >
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</p>
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**Pocketlang** is a small (~3000 semicolons) and [fast](https://github.com/ThakeeNathees/pocketlang#performance)
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functional language written in C. It's syntactically similar to Ruby and it can
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be learned [within 15 minutes](https://thakeenathees.github.io/pocketlang/docs/v0.1.0/Reference/Cheat-Sheet.html).
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Including the compiler, bytecode VM and runtime, it's a standalone executable
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with zero external dependencies just as it's self descriptive name. The pocketlang
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VM can be embedded in another hosting program very easily.
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[Wren Language](https://wren.io/) and their wonderful book [Crafting Interpreters](http://www.craftinginterpreters.com/)
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were used as a reference to write this language.
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## What pocketlang looks like
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```ruby
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# Python like import statement.
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from lang import clock as now
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# A recursive fibonacci function.
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def fib(n)
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if n < 2 then return n end
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return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2)
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end
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# Prints all fibonacci from 0 to 10 exclusive.
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for i in 0..10
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print("fib($i) = ${fib(i)}")
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end
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```
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## Try It Now
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You can [try pocketlang on your browser](https://thakeenathees.github.io/pocketlang/try-online.html).
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It's a [WebAssembly](https://webassembly.org/) build of the VM compiled using [emscripten](https://emscripten.org/).
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Note that in the webassembly version of the language, some features (input, file handling, relative import, etc.)
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have disabled, has limited memory allocations, and the stdout calls might be slower.
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## Documentation
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The pocketlang documentation is hosted at https://thakeenathees.github.io/pocketlang/ which
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is built from the `docs` branch generated by a little python script at `docs/generate.py`.
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Note that the documentations are WIP and might not be up to date.
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## Performance
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Pocketlang uses [NaN-Boxing](https://leonardschuetz.ch/blog/nan-boxing/) which is a memory efficient way to represent
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dynamic types and dealing with them are much faster. It supports [tail call](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tail_call)
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[optimization](https://wiki.c2.com/?TailCallOptimization). When a function returns a call, the callee can re-use the
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caller's stack frame, this will optimize memory from O(n) to O(1) and for [tail recursive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PX0BV9hGZY)
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it'll completely prevent stackoverflows and yet it's faster.
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All benchmarks below were executed on: Windows10 (64bit), ASUS N552VX, Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz
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with 12GB SODIMM Ram. And the language versions are: pocketlang (pre-alpha), wren v0.3.0,
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python v3.7.4, ruby v2.7.2.
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The source files used to run benchmarks can be found at `test/benchmarks/`
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directory. They were executed using a small python script in the test directory.
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## Building From Source
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It can be build from source easily without any dependencies, or additional requirements
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except for a c99 compatible compiler. It can be compiled with the following command.
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#### GCC / MinGw / Clang (alias with gcc)
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```
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gcc -o pocket cli/*.c src/*.c -Isrc/include -lm
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```
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#### MSVC
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```
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cl /Fepocket cli/*.c src/*.c /Isrc/include && rm *.obj
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```
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#### Makefile
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```
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make
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```
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To run the make file on windows with `mingw`, you require the GNU `make` tool which you can get
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from [msys2](https://www.msys2.org/) or [cygwin](https://www.cygwin.com/).
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#### Windows batch script
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```
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build
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```
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You don't have to run the script from a Visual Studio .NET developer command prompt, It'll search
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for the MSVS installation path and setup the build environment.
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### For other compiler/IDE
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1. Create an empty project file / makefile.
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2. Add all C files in the src directory.
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3. Add all C files in the cli directory (**NOT** recursively).
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4. Add `src/include` to include path.
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5. Compile.
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If you weren't able to compile it, please report us by [opening an issue](https://github.com/ThakeeNathees/pocketlang/issues/new).
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## References
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- Bob Nystrom.(2021) *craftinginterpreters* [online] Available at www.craftinginterpreters.com/ (Accessed January 2021)
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- Mark W. Bailey, Nathan C. Weston (June 2001) Technical report. *Performance Benefits of Tail Recursion Removal in
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Procedural Languages* [online] Available at http://cs.hamilton.edu/~mbailey/pubs/techreps/TR-2001-2.pdf
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- Roberto Ierusalimschy, Luiz Henrique de Figueiredo, Waldemar Celes *Closures in Lua* [pdf] Available at
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https://www.cs.tufts.edu/~nr/cs257/archive/roberto-ierusalimschy/closures-draft.pdf (Accessed March 2022)
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- Leonard schütz.(2020) *Dynamic Typing and NaN Boxing* [online] Available at https://leonardschuetz.ch/blog/nan-boxing/ (Accessed December 2020)
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- Bob Nystrom.(2011) *Pratt Parsers: Expression Parsing Made Easy* [online] Avaliable at
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http://journal.stuffwithstuff.com/2011/03/19/pratt-parsers-expression-parsing-made-easy/ (Accessed December 2020)
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