My text-mode paginator for text files implemented all the way up from machine code now supports a tiny subset of Markdown syntax.

The code is terribly ugly, and there are zero tests. But it did help flush out three bugs in Mu. Next steps:

• Build out the compiler checks I missed the most.
• Implement a fake screen and keyboard so I can write tests for this app.
• Throw the app away and redo it right.

(Background. Repo.)

permalink

It's amazing how much you can do layout-wise with just plain text. Pictured in this toot:

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Poems by e e cummings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._E._Cummings)

permalink

A new day, a new app

A text-mode paginator for text files. Think `more`, but no ncurses, no termbox, no libc, just Linux syscalls.

2-minute demo video:
https://archive.org/details/akkartik-2min-2020-05-29

App sources

Repo

permalink

I'm starting to build some simple apps in Mu, my memory-safe language that translates 1:1 to machine code.

Today I built a program to print a file to screen:
http://akkartik.github.io/mu/html/linux/apps/print-file.mu.html

Experience report

Also:

• I fixed a bug in the process
• I wished I already had clobbered-variable warnings.
• I wished I had type checks.

All in all, this language isn't ready for others yet. I'm constantly inspecting the code generated by the translator.

permalink

Tired: a chicken is just an egg's way of making another egg.

Wired: the Game of Life is just a glider's way of getting around.

Inspired: the rules of Conway's Game of Life are just the square root of a glider's way to achieve a 90°-rotation-then-flip.

permalink

I'm back from a death march.

Mu is a safe language built in machine code, translating almost 1:1 to machine code. A key check is for use-after-free errors, using a second address type ("Bicycles for the mind have to be see-through", section 4.4)

I spent the last 2 months switching all of Mu's implementation to this scheme. It was a tough time. But now I know it works (with 10-15% slowdown), and Mu functions calling low-level libraries should behave unsurprisingly.

https://github.com/akkartik/mu

permalink

Mu: the movie

https://archive.org/details/akkartik-2min-2020-04-20 (2 mins)

permalink

I went through an intensive Forth phase a couple of years ago before embarking on SubX, but somehow missed this Chuck Moore talk at Strange Loop:

https://www.infoq.com/presentations/power-144-chip

I watched it today at 1.5x, and it still took me 2 hours to watch. I had to pause every couple of seconds to digest what I'd just heard. Fascinating.

Forth chips focus on power, and therefore tiny memories. It's a powerful justification for remaining in the nostalgic console aesthetic of the 80s.

permalink

Yak shave of the day

My editor shows signs on the margins to indicate changes since last commit. I wanted it to show diffs from an arbitrary commit.

This feature request had been understandably refused a year ago: https://github.com/mhinz/vim-signify/issues/232

So I fixed it for myself, in 3 easy steps:

1. Find a simpler version: 1650 => 900 lines.
2. Delete even more code: -600 lines.
3. Add the feature: +2 lines.

The final result only works for me. I believe we should share raw VimScript, not packages.

permalink

The Mu compiler summarized in one page

More details

Repo

(Brief update since there isn't much to report: I'm working on safe heap allocations as described in the paper. But it's slow going because of life and the need to unwind some past decisions.)

permalink