54 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
54 lines
5.3 KiB
Markdown
# Technical Outline: Attempt 1
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## Overview
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`attempt_1` is a minimal C program that serves as a proof-of-concept for the "Lottes/Onat" sourceless ColorForth paradigm. It successfully integrates a visual editor, a live JIT compiler, and an execution environment into a single, cohesive Win32 application that links against the C runtime but avoids direct includes of standard headers, using manually declared functions instead.
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The application presents a visual grid of 32-bit tokens and allows the user to navigate and edit them directly. On every keypress, the token array is re-compiled into x86-64 machine code and executed, with the results (register states and global memory) displayed instantly in the HUD.
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## Core Concepts Implemented
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1. **Sourceless Token Array (`FArena` tape):**
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* The "source code" is a contiguous block of `U4` (32-bit) integers allocated by `VirtualAlloc` and managed by the `FArena` from `duffle.h`.
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* Each token is packed with a 4-bit "Color" tag and a 28-bit payload, adhering to the core design.
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2. **Annotation Layer (`FArena` anno):**
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* A parallel `FArena` of `U8` (64-bit) integers stores an 8-character string for each corresponding token on the tape.
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* The UI renderer prioritizes displaying this string, but the compiler only ever sees the 2-character ID packed into the 32-bit token, successfully implementing Lottes' dictionary annotation strategy.
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3. **2-Register Stack & Global Memory:**
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* The JIT compiler emits x86-64 that strictly adheres to Onat's `RAX`/`RDX` register stack.
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* A `vm_globals` array is passed by pointer into the JIT'd code (via `RCX` on Win64), allowing instructions like `FETCH` and `STORE` to simulate the "tape drive" memory model.
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4. **Handmade x86-64 JIT Emitter:**
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* A small set of `emit8`/`emit32` functions write raw x86-64 opcodes into a `VirtualAlloc` block marked as executable (`PAGE_EXECUTE_READWRITE`).
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* This buffer is cast to a C function pointer and called directly, bypassing the need for an external assembler like NASM or a complex library like Zydis for this prototype stage.
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5. **2-Character Mapped Dictionary & Resolver:**
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* The `ID2(a, b)` macro packs two characters into a 16-bit integer for use as a token's payload.
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* The JIT compiler maintains a simple array-based dictionary. On a `: Define` token, it records the ID and the current memory offset. On a `~ Call` token, it looks up the ID and emits a relative 32-bit `CALL` instruction (`0xE8`).
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* It also correctly emits `JMP` instructions to skip over definition bodies during linear execution.
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6. **Modal Editor (Win32 GDI):**
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* The UI is built with raw Win32 GDI calls defined in `duffle.h`.
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* It features two modes: `Navigation` (gray cursor, arrow key movement) and `Edit` (orange cursor, text input).
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* The editor correctly handles token insertion, deletion (Vim-style backspace), tag cycling (Tab), and value editing, all while re-compiling and re-executing on every keystroke.
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## What's Missing (TODO)
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* **Saving/Loading:** The tape and annotation arenas are purely in-memory and are lost when the program closes.
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* **Expanded Instruction Set:** The JIT only knows a handful of primitives (`SWAP`, `MULT`, `ADD`, `FETCH`, `STORE`, `DEC`, `RET_IF_ZERO`, `PRINT`). It has no support for floating point or more complex branches.
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* **The FFI Bridge:** The system needs a macro (like Onat's `CCALL`) to align the `RSP` stack to 16 bytes and map the 2-register data stack/globals into the Windows C-ABI (`RCX`, `RDX`, `R8`, `R9`) to call WinAPI safely from the JIT.
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* **Implicit Definition Boundaries (Magenta Pipe):** Definitions should not need explicit `begin`/`end`. A definition token should implicitly cause the JIT to emit a `RET` to close the prior block, and an `xchg rax, rdx` to rotate the stack for the new block.
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* **x68 Instruction Padding:** The JIT currently emits variable-length instructions (`emit8`). It needs to pad every logical block/instruction to exact 32-bit multiples using ignored prefixes or NOPs to perfectly align with the visual token grid.
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* **O(1) Dictionary & Visual Linking:** The current dictionary is a simple string-matched array rebuilt on compile. It needs to transition to a true "visual linker" where visual tokens store the absolute source memory indices, resolving locations instantly at edit-time.
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* **Annotation Editing:** Typing into an annotation just appends characters. A proper text-editing cursor within the token is needed.
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## References Utilized
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* **Heavily Utilized:**
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* **Onat's Talks:** The core architecture (2-register stack, global memory tape, JIT philosophy) is a direct implementation of the concepts from his VAMP/KYRA presentations.
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* **Lottes' Twitter Notes:** The 2-character mapped dictionary, `ret-if-signed` (`RET_IF_ZERO`), and annotation layer concepts were taken directly from his tweets.
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* **User's `duffle.h` & `fortish-study`:** The C coding conventions (X-Macros, `FArena`, byte-width types, `ms_` prefixes) were adopted from these sources.
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* **Lightly Utilized:**
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* **Lottes' Blog:** Provided the high-level "sourceless" philosophy and inspiration.
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* **Grok Searches:** Served to validate our understanding and provide parallels (like Wasm's linear memory), but did not provide direct implementation details.
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