72 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
72 lines
3.6 KiB
Markdown
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---
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layout: news
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author: Torsten
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---
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Writing Soml helped a lot to separate the levels, or phases of the ruby compilation process. Helped
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me that is, to plan the ruby compiler.
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But off course i had not written the ruby compiler, i have only
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[planned](https://dancinglightning.gitbooks.io/the-object-machine/content/object/dynamic_types.html)
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how the dynamic nature could be implemented, using soml. In very short summary, the plan was to
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extend somls feature with esoteric multi-return features and use that to jump around different
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implementation when types change.
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## The benefit of communication
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But first a thanks. When i was in the US, i talked to quite a few people about my plans. Everything
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helped, but special thanks goes to Caleb for pointing out two issues.
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The simpler one is that what i had named Layout, is usually called Type. I have changed the code
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and docs now and must admit it is a better name.
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The other thing Caleb was right about is that Soml is what is called an intermediate representation.
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This rubbed a little, especially since i had just moved away from a purely intermediate
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representation to an intermediate language. But still, we'll see below that the language is not
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enough to solve the dynamic issues. I have already created an equivalent intermediate
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representation (to the soml ast) and will probably let go of the language completely, in time.
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So thanks to Caleb, and a thumbs up for anyone else reading, to **make contact**
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## The hierarchy of languages
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It seemed like such a good idea. Just like third level languages are compiled down to second (ie c
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to assembler), and second is compiled to first (ie assembler to binary), so fourth level would
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get compiled down to third. Such a nice clean world, very appealing.
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Until i started working on the details. Specifically how the type (of almost anything) would change
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in a statically typed language. And in short, I ran into yet another wall.
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So back it is to using an intermediate representation. Alas, at least it is a working one, so down
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from there to executable, it is know to work.
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## Cross function jumps
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Let's call a method something akin to what ruby has. It's bound to a type, has a name and arguments.
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But both return types and argument types are not specified. Then function could be a specific
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implementation of that method, specific to a certain set of types for the arguments. The return type
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is still not fixed.
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A compiler can generate all possible functions for a method as the set of basic types is small. Or
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it could be a little cleverer and generate stubs and generate the actual functions on demand, as
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probably only a fraction of the theoretical possibilities will be needed.
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Now, if we have an assignment, say to an argument, from a method call, the type of the variable
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may have to change according to the return type.
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So the return will be to different addresses (think of it as an if) and so in each branch,
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code can be inserted to change the type. But that makes the rest of the function behave wrongly as
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it assumes the type before the change.
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And this is where the cross function jumps come. Which is also the reason this can not be expressed
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in a language. The code then needs to jump to the same place, in a different function.
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The function can be pre-compiled or compiled on demand at that point. All that matters is that the
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logic of the function being jumped to is the same as where the jump comes from. And this is
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guaranteed by the fact that both function are generated from the same (untyped ruby) source code.
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## Next steps
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So what's left to do here: There is the little matter of implementing this plan.
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Maybe it leads to another wall, maybe this is it. Fingers crossed.
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