Orca Microcode

orca_microcode.md

this document has been moved to: https://github.com/eelfroth/Orca-Microcode

Orca Microcode

this is a draft, or proposal, for a DSL that Orca can implement to define its operators in a compact way

rough specification

• O { expression } defines an operator, where O has to be a single character
• [x,y] addresses a cell, x and y being relative offsets
• assigning to a cell marks it as output port, and locks it
• reading from a cell marks it as input port, and locks it
• @[x,y] addresses a cell without locking it
• the data types are: integer, boolean, and character
• integer assignments to a cell are in mod 36
• boolean assingments to a cell are * (true) or . (false)
• character assignments are the character itself
• local variables don't have to be declared, type is inferred
• implicit conversion from character (in base36) to integer
• some global variables exist, such as frame and the array vars[]
• the rest is pretty standard B syntax *waves hand*

example

A { [0,1] = [-1,0] + [1,0]; }

B { r = [-1,0] ? [-1,0] : 1;
    m = ([1,0] ? [1,0] : 8) -1;
    k = (frame / r) % (m * 2);
    [0,1] = k <= m ? k : m - (k - m); }
    
C { r = [-1,0] ? [-1,0] : 1;
    m = [1,0] ? [1,0] : 8;
    [0,1] = (frame / r) % m; }
    
D { r = [-1,0] ? [-1,0] : 1;
    m = [1,0] ? [1,0] : 8;
    [0,1] = 0 == (frame / r) % m; }
    
E { @[0,0] = @[1,0] != '.';
    if (!@[0,0]) @[1,0] = 'E'; }
    
F { [0,1] = [-1,0] == [1,0]; }

G { x = [-3,0];
    y = [-2,0] + 1;
    n = [-1,0];
    for (i=0; i<n; i++) {
        [x+i, y] = [i+1, 0];
    } }
    
H { h = [0,1]; }

I { s = [-1,0] ? [-1,0] : 1;
    m = [1,0] ? [1,0] : 36;
    [0,1] = ([0,1] + s) % m; }
    
J { [0,1] = [0,-1]; }

K { n = [-1,0];
    for (i=1; i<=n; i++) {
        if ([i,0]) [i,1] = vars[[i,0]];
    } } 
    
L { s = [-2,0] ? [-2,0] : 1;
    n = [-1,0];
    for (i=0; i<n; i++) { l[i] = [i+1, 0]; }
    for (i=0; i<n; i++) { [i+1, 0] = l[(i+s)%n]; } }
    
M { [0,1] = [-1,0] * [1,0]; }

N { @[0,0] = @[0,-1] != '.';
    if (!@[0,0]) @[0,-1] = 'N'; }
    
O { x = [-2,0] + 1;
    y = [-1,0];
    [0,1] = @[x,y]; }