2014-03-31 22:31:30 +00:00
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SixtyPical
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==========
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2018-08-26 13:35:28 +00:00
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_Version 0.17. Work-in-progress, everything is subject to change._
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2018-02-02 16:31:23 +00:00
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2018-03-26 12:16:53 +00:00
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**SixtyPical** is a 6502-like programming language with advanced
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2018-03-08 13:24:00 +00:00
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static analysis.
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2018-03-26 12:16:53 +00:00
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"6502-like" means that it has similar restrictions as programming
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in 6502 assembly (e.g. the programmer must choose the registers that
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2018-03-08 15:34:28 +00:00
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values will be stored in) and is concomitantly easy for a compiler to
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translate it to 6502 machine language code.
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"Advanced static analysis" includes _abstract interpretation_, where we
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go through the program step by step, tracking not just the changes that
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happen during a _specific_ execution of the program, but _sets_ of changes
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that could _possibly_ happen in any run of the program. This lets us
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2018-03-26 12:16:53 +00:00
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determine that certain things can never happen, which we can then formulate
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as safety checks.
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2014-04-01 12:01:27 +00:00
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2015-10-16 08:30:24 +00:00
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In practice, this means it catches things like
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2014-04-01 12:01:27 +00:00
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2015-10-16 08:30:24 +00:00
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* you forgot to clear carry before adding something to the accumulator
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* a subroutine that you call trashes a register you thought was preserved
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2018-03-08 13:24:00 +00:00
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* you tried to read or write a byte beyond the end of a byte array
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2015-10-22 18:20:48 +00:00
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* you tried to write the address of something that was not a routine, to
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a jump vector
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2014-04-04 17:27:51 +00:00
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2018-03-08 15:34:28 +00:00
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and suchlike. It also provides some convenient operations based on
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machine-language programming idioms, such as
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* copying values from one register to another (via a third register when
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there are no underlying instructions that directly support it); this
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includes 16-bit values, which are copied in two steps
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* explicit tail calls
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* indirect subroutine calls
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2018-02-05 13:17:23 +00:00
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The reference implementation can analyze and compile SixtyPical programs to
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6502 machine code.
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2014-04-11 21:50:03 +00:00
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2018-03-08 13:36:30 +00:00
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Quick Start
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-----------
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If you have the [VICE][] emulator installed, from this directory, you can run
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./loadngo.sh c64 eg/c64/hearts.60p
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and it will compile the [hearts.60p source code](eg/c64/hearts.60p) and
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automatically start it in the `x64` emulator, and you should see:
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2018-08-26 13:32:19 +00:00
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2018-03-08 13:36:30 +00:00
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You can try the `loadngo.sh` script on other sources in the `eg` directory
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tree, which contains more extensive examples, including an entire
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game(-like program); see [eg/README.md](eg/README.md) for a listing.
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2018-04-18 15:46:34 +00:00
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[VICE]: http://vice-emu.sourceforge.net/
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2015-10-16 09:00:51 +00:00
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Documentation
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-------------
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2014-04-01 13:33:57 +00:00
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2017-11-21 11:13:21 +00:00
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* [Design Goals](doc/Design%20Goals.md)
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* [SixtyPical specification](doc/SixtyPical.md)
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* [SixtyPical revision history](HISTORY.md)
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* [Literate test suite for SixtyPical syntax](tests/SixtyPical%20Syntax.md)
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* [Literate test suite for SixtyPical analysis](tests/SixtyPical%20Analysis.md)
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* [Literate test suite for SixtyPical compilation](tests/SixtyPical%20Compilation.md)
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2018-04-05 13:10:04 +00:00
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* [Literate test suite for SixtyPical fallthru optimization](tests/SixtyPical%20Fallthru.md)
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* [6502 Opcodes used/not used in SixtyPical](doc/6502%20Opcodes.md)
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* [Output formats supported by `sixtypical`](doc/Output%20Formats.md)
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* [TODO](TODO.md)
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