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Creating A Language Using Only Assembly Language

1. The document describes the process of creating the Amber programming language using only assembly language by starting with a basic language called "rowl0" and bootstrapping to higher level languages. 2. Key steps included creating an interpreter for LISP called "rowl-core" using "rowl0", then a DSL to define a virtual machine "rlvm", and a toolchain including a language "rowl1" to program the VM. 3. Finally "Amber" was created as a dynamic scripting language running on "rlvm" with object orientation, pattern matching, and self-extending capabilities through its standard library.

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196 views73 pages

Creating A Language Using Only Assembly Language

1. The document describes the process of creating the Amber programming language using only assembly language by starting with a basic language called "rowl0" and bootstrapping to higher level languages. 2. Key steps included creating an interpreter for LISP called "rowl-core" using "rowl0", then a DSL to define a virtual machine "rlvm", and a toolchain including a language "rowl1" to program the VM. 3. Finally "Amber" was created as a dynamic scripting language running on "rlvm" with object orientation, pattern matching, and self-extending capabilities through its standard library.

Uploaded by

Gabriel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Creating a language

using only
assembly language.
Kernel/VM Tanken-tai #11
Koichi Nakamura

Codes
https://github.com/nineties/amber

Profile
Koichi Nakamura
twitter: @9_ties

developing an IoT device


http://idein.jp

I was a compiler writer


wrote compilers at student experiment
minCaml compiler by OCaml
minCaml compiler by Haskell
https://github.com/nineties/Choco

studied optimizing compilers at graduate school


wrote compilers for special purpose CPUs

Wanted to create my own language


name: Amber
It was rowl at first.

I wanted to enjoy the creation process itself.


How could I?

Lets play with limitations

1. Use assembly language only.


2. No libraries.
3. No code generators.

High-level langs. like C

libc etc.
flex/bison etc.

StrategyBootstrapping
Write language 1 by assembly language
Write a little bit high-level language 2 by language 1

Write Amber by language k


Write Amber by Amber

here now

Whats the point?


For fun.
To cultivate knowledge, techniques, know-hows of compiler-writing.
But its not cost-effective study method...

To feel a sense of gratitude and respect for predecessors.

Ill show the outline of my development process.

1. Created rowl0 by assembly language

Made a little bit high-level lang. more than asm.


language name: rowl0
compiler name: rlc

From regular expressions of tokens

Wrote a state transition diagram

Converted to jump table

And wrote the lexer

Wrote rowl0s syntax by BNF

Then wrote the parser


recursive descent method

Generates codes together with parsing


writing memory
management is difficult here.
parsing

generates codes without


building syntax trees.

code generation

Completed the first language rowl0!


no symbol tables.
function params must be
p0,p1,p2,...
to use local variables, allocate
stack mems by allocate(n) then
use
x0,x1,x2,...

2.Created a LISP rowl-core by rowl0

Made a LISP temporarily


language name: rowl-core
interpreter name: rlci
easy to implement
productivity improvement

Wrote lexer and parser

Writing became more comfortable

Wrote eval

No memory management
mmap and munmap is the only function

malloc, free

1. Does not recovery garbage memories


2. Allocates fresh memories for new objects
3. So, it will die eventually

When it can compile the next generation compilers, its no problem.

Completed a LISP rowl-core!


rich functions
lambda, map etc.

macros

3.Created a language to write VM by rowl-core

Decided to create a VM for the next generation


Created a language just for writing the virtual machine.
Defined it as a DSL in the LISP rowl-core
No need of writing lexer and parser!

Wrote the compiler like this

Now I could use higher-order functions


productivity was improved a lot

4.Created a virtual machine rlvm by the DSL

Wrote codes of VM with the DSL like this

Wrote a garbage collector


Copying GC
Cheneys algorithm

Wrote primitive functions

An application of meta-programming
The table of instructions of the VM

Generates various codes from the table


reflects changes of
instructions
automatically

vm_instructions

It is very easy to make


this kind of mechanism
with LISP

eval loop of the VM


Assembler

Disassembler

Assembler used internally in Amber

Linker

Wrote instruction sets

Floating point arithmetics

Multi-precision integer arithmetics

Exception handling

Delimited Continuation

Completed the virtual machine rlvm!


186 instructions
stack machine
copying GC
exception handling
shift/reset delimited continuation
floating-point arithmetics, multi-precision arithmetics

5.Created a tool chain for rlvm

There was no programming tools for rlvm


Created a tool chain for the VM

a programming language rowl1


its compiler
assembler
disassembler
linker

Wrote rowl1, assembler and compiler


Defined as a DSL of rowl-core

Wrote linker and disassembler


Wrote these tools by rowl1, so they run on rlvm
The linker requires GC since it uses a lot of memory

Example outputs of the disassembler

Ready to program on rlvm!


writing programs for rlvm
disassembling of byte-codes
supports separate compilation
Reached the starting line

6.Wrote Amber by rowl1

Started developing Amber


dynamic scripting language
instance-based object-oriented system
run on rlvm

Wrote an assembler
The former assembler
assembles codes ahead of
time and run on rlci
This assembler assembles
codes just in time and run
on rlvm
fills addresses by
backpatching

Wrote the object system


slots, messages and parent delegation

Wrote Ambers core feature on the system


dynamic pattern-matching engine

mechanism of partial function fusion

Wrote the compiler


Made Amber compiler as one of Amber objects
matching of syntax tree
compiler
pattern-matching engine
Ambers core system

object system
VM

resource management

Wrote closure-conversion

Wrote parsers
compiles parsers at run-time
each parser is a usual Amber object (closure)
parsers
compile
compiler
pattern-matching engine

Amber core system

object system

VM

very simple syntax


1. literals are expressions
2. for a symbol h and expressions e1,..,en (n>=0),
h{e1, ..., en} is an expression
3. no other form of Ambers expression

Used Packrat parsing method


scanner less

Encoding/decoding floating-point literal was difficult


3.14
wrote them by my self
because of no libc limitation

0x40091eb851eb851f

strtod, sprintf

require multi-precision integer arithmetic which I wrote before

Amber interpreter is completed!


dynamic scripting language
run on rlvm
instance-based object oriented system
dynamic pattern-matching engine
partial function fusion
lexical closure
I got modern programming language!

7. Created Ambers standard library

Amber has strong self extensibility


Ambers simple syntax is extended in a standard library
amber/lib/syntax/parse.ab

Builds its syntax during boot sequence

Only has very simple syntax at first

used string literal for comments


because there is no syntax for comments

Defines a syntax for defining syntaxes

Defines Ambers syntax with the syntax

Builds macro system

Gives meanings to syntaxes by macros

Now Amber got rich syntax

Extends object system

Now Amber got rich object system


Inheritence, mix-in etc.

Now the development is under suspension


No plans of further updates

Try following command to invoke Amber shell


See the outputs of the make command
%
%
%
%

git clone https://github.com/nineties/amber.git


cd amber
make; sudo make install
amber

Summary
I could reach relatively high-level language. Feel satisfied.
lang. for
writing VM
compiler
impl.

as

language
tool

rowl0
rlc

impl.

rlvm

rowl-core
rlci
rowl1

Amber

compiler

interpreter
self-extension

linker
disassembler

run

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