gistfile1.txt

diff --git a/nqp-truffle.nqp b/nqp-truffle.nqp
index a64a2860b..9e264dbad 100644
--- a/nqp-truffle.nqp
+++ b/nqp-truffle.nqp
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ class QAST::OperationsTruffle {
 
     add_simple_op('uc', $T_STR, [$T_STR]);
 
+    add_simple_op('chars', $T_INT, [$T_STR]);
+
     # explicit takeclosure is used by the JVM backend we no-op it.
     add_op('takeclosure', sub ($comp, $node, :$want) {
         $comp.as_truffle($node[0], :want($want));
@@ -259,6 +261,17 @@ class QAST::TruffleCompiler {
                 }
             }
 
+            if $got == $T_INT {
+                if $desired == $T_STR {
+                    return TAST.new($T_STR, ['smart-stringify', $tast.tree]);
+                }
+            }
+
+            if $got == $T_STR {
+                if $desired == $T_INT {
+                    return TAST.new($T_INT, ['smart-intify', $tast.tree]);
+                }
+            }
 
             say("Can't coerce $got to $desired");
             $tast;
diff --git a/src/vm/jvm/bin/write_a_node.nqp b/src/vm/jvm/bin/write_a_node.nqp
index 021f5bd06..147268b06 100644
--- a/src/vm/jvm/bin/write_a_node.nqp
+++ b/src/vm/jvm/bin/write_a_node.nqp
@@ -117,5 +117,5 @@ sub add_simple_op($name, $return_type, $args) {
 }
 
 
-add_simple_op('concat', $T_STR, [$T_STR, $T_STR]);
+add_simple_op('chars', $T_INT, [$T_STR]);
 
diff --git a/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/TruffleCompiler.java b/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/TruffleCompiler.java
index 609b3b194..55dbe79d5 100644
--- a/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/TruffleCompiler.java
+++ b/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/TruffleCompiler.java
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.expression.NQPBoxNQPStr;
 import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.expression.NQPNullNode;
 import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.expression.NQPLcNode;
 import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.expression.NQPUcNode;
+import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.expression.NQPCharsNode;
 
 import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.io.NQPSayNode;
 import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.io.NQPPrintNode;
@@ -139,6 +140,8 @@ public class TruffleCompiler {
                 return new NQPLcNode(build(node.at_pos_boxed(tc, 1), scope, tc));
             case "uc":
                 return new NQPUcNode(build(node.at_pos_boxed(tc, 1), scope, tc));
+            case "chars":
+                return new NQPCharsNode(build(node.at_pos_boxed(tc, 1), scope, tc));
             default:
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("Wrong node type: " + node.at_pos_boxed(tc, 0).get_str(tc));
         }
diff --git a/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/nodes/expression/NQPSmartStringifyNode.java b/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/nodes/expression/NQPSmartStringifyNode.java
index 92b9a4326..5410ab6a2 100644
--- a/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/nodes/expression/NQPSmartStringifyNode.java
+++ b/src/vm/jvm/runtime/org/perl6/nqp/truffle/nodes/expression/NQPSmartStringifyNode.java
@@ -64,6 +64,6 @@ public final class NQPSmartStringifyNode extends NQPNode {
         } else if (value instanceof Long) {
             return ((Long) value).toString();
         }
-        throw new RuntimeException("can't smart stringify");
+        throw new RuntimeException("can't smart stringify a " + value.getClass().getName());
     }
 }

NQPCharsNode.java

package org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.expression;
import com.oracle.truffle.api.frame.VirtualFrame;
import com.oracle.truffle.api.nodes.NodeInfo;
import org.perl6.nqp.truffle.nodes.NQPNode;

@NodeInfo(shortName = "chars")
public final class NQPCharsNode extends NQPNode {
    @Child private NQPNode aNode;
    public NQPCharsNode(NQPNode aNode) {
        this.aNode = aNode;
    }

    public long executeInteger(VirtualFrame frame) {
        return aNode.executeString(frame).length();
    }
}