aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
-rw-r--r--docs/Stacker.html987
1 files changed, 987 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/docs/Stacker.html b/docs/Stacker.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..81ad60e8fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/Stacker.html
@@ -0,0 +1,987 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
+<html>
+<head>
+ <title>Stacker: An Example Of Using LLVM</title>
+ <link rel="stylesheet" href="llvm.css" type="text/css">
+</head>
+<body>
+<div class="doc_title">Stacker: An Example Of Using LLVM</div>
+<ol>
+ <li><a href="#abstract">Abstract</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#lexicon">The Stacker Lexicon</a>
+ <ol>
+ <li><a href="#stack">The Stack</a>
+ <li><a href="#punctuation">Punctuation</a>
+ <li><a href="#literals">Literals</a>
+ <li><a href="#words">Words</a>
+ <li><a href="#builtins">Built-Ins</a>
+ </ol>
+ </li>
+ <li><a href="#directory">The Directory Structure </a>
+</ol>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p><b>Written by <a href="mailto:rspencer@x10sys.com">Reid Spencer</a> </b></p>
+<p> </p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_section"> <a name="abstract">Abstract </a></div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>This document is another way to learn about LLVM. Unlike the
+<a href="LangRef.html">LLVM Reference Manual</a> or
+<a href="ProgrammersManual.html">LLVM Programmer's Manual</a>, this
+document walks you through the implementation of a programming language
+named Stacker. Stacker was invented specifically as a demonstration of
+LLVM. The emphasis in this document is not on describing the
+intricacies of LLVM itself, but on how to use it to build your own
+compiler system.</p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_section"> <a name="introduction">Introduction</a> </div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>Amongst other things, LLVM is a platform for compiler writers.
+Because of its exceptionally clean and small IR (intermediate
+representation), compiler writing with LLVM is much easier than with
+other system. As proof, the author of Stacker wrote the entire
+compiler (language definition, lexer, parser, code generator, etc.) in
+about <em>four days</em>! That's important to know because it shows
+how quickly you can get a new
+language up when using LLVM. Furthermore, this was the <em >first</em>
+language the author ever created using LLVM. The learning curve is
+included in that four days.</p>
+<p>The language described here, Stacker, is Forth-like. Programs
+are simple collections of word definitions and the only thing definitions
+can do is manipulate a stack or generate I/O. Stacker is not a "real"
+programming language; its very simple. Although it is computationally
+complete, you wouldn't use it for your next big project. However,
+the fact that it is complete, its simple, and it <em>doesn't</em> have
+a C-like syntax make it useful for demonstration purposes. It shows
+that LLVM could be applied to a wide variety of language syntaxes.</p>
+<p>The basic notions behind stacker is very simple. There's a stack of
+integers (or character pointers) that the program manipulates. Pretty
+much the only thing the program can do is manipulate the stack and do
+some limited I/O operations. The language provides you with several
+built-in words that manipulate the stack in interesting ways. To get
+your feet wet, here's how you write the traditional "Hello, World"
+program in Stacker:</p>
+<p><code>: hello_world "Hello, World!" &gt;s DROP CR ;<br>
+: MAIN hello_world ;<br></code></p>
+<p>This has two "definitions" (Stacker manipulates words, not
+functions and words have definitions): <code>MAIN</code> and <code>
+hello_world</code>. The <code>MAIN</code> definition is standard, it
+tells Stacker where to start. Here, <code>MAIN</code> is defined to
+simply invoke the word <code>hello_world</code>. The
+<code>hello_world</code> definition tells stacker to push the
+<code>"Hello, World!"</code> string onto the stack, print it out
+(<code>&gt;s</code>), pop it off the stack (<code>DROP</code>), and
+finally print a carriage return (<code>CR</code>). Although
+<code>hello_world</code> uses the stack, its net effect is null. Well
+written Stacker definitions have that characteristic. </p>
+<p>Exercise for the reader: how could you make this a one line program?</p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_section"><a name="stack"></a>Lessons Learned About LLVM</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>Stacker was written for two purposes: (a) to get the author over the
+learning curve and (b) to provide a simple example of how to write a compiler
+using LLVM. During the development of Stacker, many lessons about LLVM were
+learned. Those lessons are described in the following subsections.<p>
+</div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>Getting Linkage Types Right</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>Everything's a Value!</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>The Wily GetElementPtrInst</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>Constants Are Easier Than That!</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>Terminate Those Blocks!</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>new,get,create .. Its All The Same</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>Utility Functions To The Rescue</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>push_back Is Your Friend</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="linkage"></a>Block Heads Come First</div>
+<div class="doc_text"><p>To be completed.</p></div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_section"> <a name="lexicon">The Stacker Lexicon</a></div>
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="stack"></a>The Stack</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>Stacker definitions define what they do to the global stack. Before
+proceeding, a few words about the stack are in order. The stack is simply
+a global array of 32-bit integers or pointers. A global index keeps track
+of the location of the to of the stack. All of this is hidden from the
+programmer but it needs to be noted because it is the foundation of the
+conceptual programming model for Stacker. When you write a definition,
+you are, essentially, saying how you want that definition to manipulate
+the global stack.</p>
+<p>Manipulating the stack can be quite hazardous. There is no distinction
+given and no checking for the various types of values that can be placed
+on the stack. Automatic coercion between types is performed. In many
+cases this is useful. For example, a boolean value placed on the stack
+can be interpreted as an integer with good results. However, using a
+word that interprets that boolean value as a pointer to a string to
+print out will almost always yield a crash. Stacker simply leaves it
+to the programmer to get it right without any interference or hindering
+on interpretation of the stack values. You've been warned :) </p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_subsection"> <a name="punctuation"></a>Punctuation</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>Punctuation in Stacker is very simple. The colon and semi-colon
+characters are used to introduce and terminate a definition
+(respectively). Except for <em>FORWARD</em> declarations, definitions
+are all you can specify in Stacker. Definitions are read left to right.
+Immediately after the semi-colon comes the name of the word being defined.
+The remaining words in the definition specify what the word does.</p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="literals"></a>Literals</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+ <p>There are three kinds of literal values in Stacker. Integer, Strings,
+ and Booleans. In each case, the stack operation is to simply push the
+ value onto the stack. So, for example:<br/>
+ <code> 42 " is the answer." TRUE </code><br/>
+ will push three values onto the stack: the integer 42, the
+ string " is the answer." and the boolean TRUE.</p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="words"></a>Words</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>Each definition in Stacker is composed of a set of words. Words are
+read and executed in order from left to right. There is very little
+checking in Stacker to make sure you're doing the right thing with
+the stack. It is assumed that the programmer knows how the stack
+transformation he applies will affect the program.</p>
+<p>Words in a definition come in two flavors: built-in and programmer
+defined. Simply mentioning the name of a previously defined or declared
+programmer-defined word causes that words definition to be invoked. It
+is somewhat like a function call in other languages. The built-in
+words have various effects, described below.</p>
+<p>Sometimes you need to call a word before it is defined. For this, you can
+use the <code>FORWARD</code> declaration. It looks like this</p>
+<p><code>FORWARD name ;</code></p>
+<p>This simply states to Stacker that "name" is the name of a definition
+that is defined elsewhere. Generally it means the definition can be found
+"forward" in the file. But, it doesn't have to be in the current compilation
+unit. Anything declared with <code>FORWARD</code> is an external symbol for
+linking.</p>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_subsection"><a name="builtins"></a>Built In Words</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>The built-in words of the Stacker language are put in several groups
+depending on what they do. The groups are as follows:</p>
+<ol>
+ <li><em>Logical</em>These words provide the logical operations for
+ comparing stack operands.<br/>The words are: &lt; &gt; &lt;= &gt;=
+ = &lt;&gt; true false.</li>
+ <li><em>Bitwise</em>These words perform bitwise computations on
+ their operands. <br/> The words are: &lt;&lt; &gt;&gt; XOR AND NOT</li>
+ <li><em>Arithmetic</em>These words perform arithmetic computations on
+ their operands. <br/> The words are: ABS NEG + - * / MOD */ ++ -- MIN MAX</li>
+ <li><em>Stack</em>These words manipulate the stack directly by moving
+ its elements around.<br/> The words are: DROP DUP SWAP OVER ROT DUP2 DROP2 PICK TUCK</li>
+ <li><em>Memory></em>These words allocate, free and manipulate memory
+ areas outside the stack.<br/>The words are: MALLOC FREE GET PUT</li>
+ <li><em>Control</em>These words alter the normal left to right flow
+ of execution.<br/>The words are: IF ELSE ENDIF WHILE END RETURN EXIT RECURSE</li>
+ <li><em>I/O</em> These words perform output on the standard output
+ and input on the standard input. No other I/O is possible in Stacker.
+ <br/>The words are: SPACE TAB CR &gt;s &gt;d &gt;c &lt;s &lt;d &lt;c.</li>
+</ol>
+<p>While you may be familiar with many of these operations from other
+programming languages, a careful review of their semantics is important
+for correct programming in Stacker. Of most importance is the effect
+that each of these built-in words has on the global stack. The effect is
+not always intuitive. To better describe the effects, we'll borrow from Forth the idiom of
+describing the effect on the stack with:</p>
+<p><code> BEFORE -- AFTER </code></p>
+<p>That is, to the left of the -- is a representation of the stack before
+the operation. To the right of the -- is a representation of the stack
+after the operation. In the table below that describes the operation of
+each of the built in words, we will denote the elements of the stack
+using the following construction:</p>
+<ol>
+ <li><em>b</em> - a boolean truth value</li>
+ <li><em>w</em> - a normal integer valued word.</li>
+ <li><em>s</em> - a pointer to a string value</li>
+ <li><em>p</em> - a pointer to a malloc's memory block</li>
+</ol>
+</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<table class="doc_table" >
+<tr class="doc_table"><td colspan="4">Definition Of Operation Of Built In Words</td></tr>
+<tr class="doc_table"><td colspan="4">LOGICAL OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr class="doc_table"><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr class="doc_table"><td>&lt;</td>
+ <td>LT</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- b</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack and
+ compared. If w1 is less than w2, TRUE is pushed back on
+ the stack, otherwise FALSE is pushed back on the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&gt;</td>
+ <td>GT</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- b</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack and
+ compared. If w1 is greater than w2, TRUE is pushed back on
+ the stack, otherwise FALSE is pushed back on the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&gt;=</td>
+ <td>GE</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- b</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack and
+ compared. If w1 is greater than or equal to w2, TRUE is
+ pushed back on the stack, otherwise FALSE is pushed back
+ on the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&lt;=</td>
+ <td>LE</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- b</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack and
+ compared. If w1 is less than or equal to w2, TRUE is
+ pushed back on the stack, otherwise FALSE is pushed back
+ on the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>=</td>
+ <td>EQ</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- b</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack and
+ compared. If w1 is equal to w2, TRUE is
+ pushed back on the stack, otherwise FALSE is pushed back
+ </td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&lt;&gt;</td>
+ <td>NE</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- b</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack and
+ compared. If w1 is equal to w2, TRUE is
+ pushed back on the stack, otherwise FALSE is pushed back
+ </td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>FALSE</td>
+ <td>FALSE</td>
+ <td> -- b</td>
+ <td>The boolean value FALSE (0) is pushed onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>TRUE</td>
+ <td>TRUE</td>
+ <td> -- b</td>
+ <td>The boolean value TRUE (-1) is pushed onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td colspan="4">BITWISE OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr><td>&lt;&lt;</td>
+ <td>SHL</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w1&lt;&lt;w2</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack. The w2
+ operand is shifted left by the number of bits given by the
+ w1 operand. The result is pushed back to the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&gt;&gt;</td>
+ <td>SHR</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w1&gt;&gt;w2</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack. The w2
+ operand is shifted right by the number of bits given by the
+ w1 operand. The result is pushed back to the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>OR</td>
+ <td>OR</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2|w1</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack. The values
+ are bitwise OR'd together and pushed back on the stack. This is
+ not a logical OR. The sequence 1 2 OR yields 3 not 1.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>AND</td>
+ <td>AND</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2&amp;w1</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack. The values
+ are bitwise AND'd together and pushed back on the stack. This is
+ not a logical AND. The sequence 1 2 AND yields 0 not 1.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>XOR</td>
+ <td>XOR</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2^w1</td>
+ <td>Two values (w1 and w2) are popped off the stack. The values
+ are bitwise exclusive OR'd together and pushed back on the stack.
+ For example, The sequence 1 3 XOR yields 2.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td colspan="4">ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr><td>ABS</td>
+ <td>ABS</td>
+ <td>w -- |w|</td>
+ <td>One value s popped off the stack; its absolute value is computed
+ and then pushed onto the stack. If w1 is -1 then w2 is 1. If w1 is
+ 1 then w2 is also 1.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>NEG</td>
+ <td>NEG</td>
+ <td>w -- -w</td>
+ <td>One value is popped off the stack which is negated and then
+ pushed back onto the stack. If w1 is -1 then w2 is 1. If w1 is
+ 1 then w2 is -1.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> + </td>
+ <td>ADD</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2+w1</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. Their sum is pushed back
+ onto the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> - </td>
+ <td>SUB</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2-w1</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. Their difference is pushed back
+ onto the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> * </td>
+ <td>MUL</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2*w1</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. Their product is pushed back
+ onto the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> / </td>
+ <td>DIV</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2/w1</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. Their quotient is pushed back
+ onto the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>MOD</td>
+ <td>MOD</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2%w1</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. Their remainder after division
+ of w1 by w2 is pushed back onto the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> */ </td>
+ <td>STAR_SLAH</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 -- (w3*w2)/w1</td>
+ <td>Three values are popped off the stack. The product of w1 and w2 is
+ divided by w3. The result is pushed back onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> ++ </td>
+ <td>INCR</td>
+ <td>w -- w+1</td>
+ <td>One value is popped off the stack. It is incremented by one and then
+ pushed back onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td> -- </td>
+ <td>DECR</td>
+ <td>w -- w-1</td>
+ <td>One value is popped off the stack. It is decremented by one and then
+ pushed back onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>MIN</td>
+ <td>MIN</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- (w2&lt;w1?w2:w1)</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. The larger one is pushed back
+ onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>MAX</td>
+ <td>MAX</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- (w2&gt;w1?w2:w1)</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack. The larger value is pushed back
+ onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td colspan="4">STACK MANIPULATION OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr><td>DROP</td>
+ <td>DROP</td>
+ <td>w -- </td>
+ <td>One value is popped off the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>DROP2</td>
+ <td>DROP2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- </td>
+ <td>Two values are popped off the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>NIP</td>
+ <td>NIP</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2</td>
+ <td>The second value on the stack is removed from the stack. That is,
+ a value is popped off the stack and retained. Then a second value is
+ popped and the retained value is pushed.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>NIP2</td>
+ <td>NIP2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 w4 -- w3 w4</td>
+ <td>The third and fourth values on the stack are removed from it. That is,
+ two values are popped and retained. Then two more values are popped and
+ the two retained values are pushed back on.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>DUP</td>
+ <td>DUP</td>
+ <td>w1 -- w1 w1</td>
+ <td>One value is popped off the stack. That value is then pushed onto
+ the stack twice to duplicate the top stack vaue.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>DUP2</td>
+ <td>DUP2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w1 w2 w1 w2</td>
+ <td>The top two values on the stack are duplicated. That is, two vaues
+ are popped off the stack. They are alternately pushed back on the
+ stack twice each.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>SWAP</td>
+ <td>SWAP</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2 w1</td>
+ <td>The top two stack items are reversed in their order. That is, two
+ values are popped off the stack and pushed back onto the stack in
+ the opposite order they were popped.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>SWAP2</td>
+ <td>SWAP2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 w4 -- w3 w4 w2 w1</td>
+ <td>The top four stack items are swapped in pairs. That is, two values
+ are popped and retained. Then, two more values are popped and retained.
+ The values are pushed back onto the stack in the reverse order but
+ in pairs.</p>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>OVER</td>
+ <td>OVER</td>
+ <td>w1 w2-- w1 w2 w1</td>
+ <td>Two values are popped from the stack. They are pushed back
+ onto the stack in the order w1 w2 w1. This seems to cause the
+ top stack element to be duplicated "over" the next value.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>OVER2</td>
+ <td>OVER2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 w4 -- w1 w2 w3 w4 w1 w2</td>
+ <td>The third and fourth values on the stack are replicated onto the
+ top of the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>ROT</td>
+ <td>ROT</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 -- w2 w3 w1</td>
+ <td>The top three values are rotated. That is, three value are popped
+ off the stack. They are pushed back onto the stack in the order
+ w1 w3 w2.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>ROT2</td>
+ <td>ROT2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 w4 w5 w6 -- w3 w4 w5 w6 w1 w2</td>
+ <td>Like ROT but the rotation is done using three pairs instead of
+ three singles.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>RROT</td>
+ <td>RROT</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 -- w2 w3 w1</td>
+ <td>Reverse rotation. Like ROT, but it rotates the other way around.
+ Essentially, the third element on the stack is moved to the top
+ of the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>RROT2</td>
+ <td>RROT2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 w4 w5 w6 -- w3 w4 w5 w6 w1 w2</td>
+ <td>Double reverse rotation. Like RROT but the rotation is done using
+ three pairs instead of three singles. The fifth and sixth stack
+ elements are moved to the first and second positions</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>TUCK</td>
+ <td>TUCK</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 -- w2 w1 w2</td>
+ <td>Similar to OVER except that the second operand is being
+ replicated. Essentially, the first operand is being "tucked"
+ in between two instances of the second operand. Logically, two
+ values are popped off the stack. They are placed back on the
+ stack in the order w2 w1 w2.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>TUCK2</td>
+ <td>TUCK2</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 w3 w4 -- w3 w4 w1 w2 w3 w4</td>
+ <td>Like TUCK but a pair of elements is tucked over two pairs.
+ That is, the top two elements of the stack are duplicated and
+ inserted into the stack at the fifth and positions.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>PICK</td>
+ <td>PICK</td>
+ <td>x0 ... Xn n -- x0 ... Xn x0</td>
+ <td>The top of the stack is used as an index into the remainder of
+ the stack. The element at the nth position replaces the index
+ (top of stack). This is useful for cycling through a set of
+ values. Note that indexing is zero based. So, if n=0 then you
+ get the second item on the stack. If n=1 you get the third, etc.
+ Note also that the index is replaced by the n'th value. </td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>SELECT</td>
+ <td>SELECT</td>
+ <td>m n X0..Xm Xm+1 .. Xn -- Xm</td>
+ <td>This is like PICK but the list is removed and you need to specify
+ both the index and the size of the list. Careful with this one,
+ the wrong value for n can blow away a huge amount of the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>ROLL</td>
+ <td>ROLL</td>
+ <td>x0 x1 .. xn n -- x1 .. xn x0</td>
+ <td><b>Not Implemented</b>. This one has been left as an exercise to
+ the student. If you can implement this one you understand Stacker
+ and probably a fair amount about LLVM since this is one of the
+ more complicated Stacker operations. See the StackerCompiler.cpp
+ file in the projects/Stacker/lib/compiler directory. The operation
+ of ROLL is like a generalized ROT. That is ROLL with n=1 is the
+ same as ROT. The n value (top of stack) is used as an index to
+ select a value up the stack that is <em>moved</em> to the top of
+ the stack. See the implementations of PICk and SELECT to get
+ some hints.<p>
+</tr>
+<tr><td colspan="4">MEMORY OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr><td>MALLOC</td>
+ <td>MALLOC</td>
+ <td>w1 -- p</td>
+ <td>One value is popped off the stack. The value is used as the size
+ of a memory block to allocate. The size is in bytes, not words.
+ The memory allocation is completed and the address of the memory
+ block is pushed onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>FREE</td>
+ <td>FREE</td>
+ <td>p -- </td>
+ <td>One pointer value is popped off the stack. The value should be
+ the address of a memory block created by the MALLOC operation. The
+ associated memory block is freed. Nothing is pushed back on the
+ stack. Many bugs can be created by attempting to FREE something
+ that isn't a pointer to a MALLOC allocated memory block. Make
+ sure you know what's on the stack. One way to do this is with
+ the following idiom:<br/>
+ <code>64 MALLOC DUP DUP (use ptr) DUP (use ptr) ... FREE</code>
+ <br/>This ensures that an extra copy of the pointer is placed on
+ the stack (for the FREE at the end) and that every use of the
+ pointer is preceded by a DUP to retain the copy for FREE.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>GET</td>
+ <td>GET</td>
+ <td>w1 p -- w2 p</td>
+ <td>An integer index and a pointer to a memory block are popped of
+ the block. The index is used to index one byte from the memory
+ block. That byte value is retained, the pointer is pushed again
+ and the retained value is pushed. Note that the pointer value
+ s essentially retained in its position so this doesn't count
+ as a "use ptr" in the FREE idiom.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>PUT</td>
+ <td>PUT</td>
+ <td>w1 w2 p -- p </td>
+ <td>An integer value is popped of the stack. This is the value to
+ be put into a memory block. Another integer value is popped of
+ the stack. This is the indexed byte in the memory block. A
+ pointer to the memory block is popped off the stack. The
+ first value (w1) is then converted to a byte and written
+ to the element of the memory block(p) at the index given
+ by the second value (w2). The pointer to the memory block is
+ pushed back on the stack so this doesn't count as a "use ptr"
+ in the FREE idiom.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td colspan="4">CONTROL FLOW OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr><td>RETURN</td>
+ <td>RETURN</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>The currently executing definition returns immediately to its caller.
+ Note that there is an implicit <code>RETURN</code> at the end of each
+ definition, logically located at the semi-colon. The sequence
+ <code>RETURN ;</code> is valid but redundant.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>EXIT</td>
+ <td>EXIT</td>
+ <td>w1 -- </td>
+ <td>A return value for the program is popped off the stack. The program is
+ then immediately terminated. This is normally an abnormal exit from the
+ program. For a normal exit (when <code>MAIN</code> finishes), the exit
+ code will always be zero in accordance with UNIX conventions.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>RECURSE</td>
+ <td>RECURSE</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>The currently executed definition is called again. This operation is
+ needed since the definition of a word doesn't exist until the semi colon
+ is reacher. Attempting something like:<br/>
+ <code> : recurser recurser ; </code><br/> will yield and error saying that
+ "recurser" is not defined yet. To accomplish the same thing, change this
+ to:<br/>
+ <code> : recurser RECURSE ; </code></td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>IF (words...) ENDIF</td>
+ <td>IF (words...) ENDIF</td>
+ <td>b -- </td>
+ <td>A boolean value is popped of the stack. If it is non-zero then the "words..."
+ are executed. Otherwise, execution continues immediately following the ENDIF.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>IF (words...) ELSE (words...) ENDIF</td>
+ <td>IF (words...) ELSE (words...) ENDIF</td>
+ <td>b -- </td>
+ <td>A boolean value is popped of the stack. If it is non-zero then the "words..."
+ between IF and ELSE are executed. Otherwise the words between ELSE and ENDIF are
+ executed. In either case, after the (words....) have executed, execution continues
+ immediately following the ENDIF. </td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>WHILE (words...) END</td>
+ <td>WHILE (words...) END</td>
+ <td>b -- b </td>
+ <td>The boolean value on the top of the stack is examined. If it is non-zero then the
+ "words..." between WHILE and END are executed. Execution then begins again at the WHILE where another
+ boolean is popped off the stack. To prevent this operation from eating up the entire
+ stack, you should push onto the stack (just before the END) a boolean value that indicates
+ whether to terminate. Note that since booleans and integers can be coerced you can
+ use the following "for loop" idiom:<br/>
+ <code>(push count) WHILE (words...) -- END</code><br/>
+ For example:<br/>
+ <code>10 WHILE DUP &gt;d -- END</code><br/>
+ This will print the numbers from 10 down to 1. 10 is pushed on the stack. Since that is
+ non-zero, the while loop is entered. The top of the stack (10) is duplicated and then
+ printed out with &gt;d. The top of the stack is decremented, yielding 9 and control is
+ transfered back to the WHILE keyword. The process starts all over again and repeats until
+ the top of stack is decremented to 0 at which the WHILE test fails and control is
+ transfered to the word after the END.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td colspan="4">INPUT &amp; OUTPUT OPERATIONS</td></tr>
+<tr><td>Word</td><td>Name</td><td>Operation</td><td>Description</td></tr>
+<tr><td>SPACE</td>
+ <td>SPACE</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>A space character is put out. There is no stack effect.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>TAB</td>
+ <td>TAB</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>A tab character is put out. There is no stack effect.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>CR</td>
+ <td>CR</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>A carriage return character is put out. There is no stack effect.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&gt;s</td>
+ <td>OUT_STR</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>A string pointer is popped from the stack. It is put out.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&gt;d</td>
+ <td>OUT_STR</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>A value is popped from the stack. It is put out as a decimal integer.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&gt;c</td>
+ <td>OUT_CHR</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>A value is popped from the stack. It is put out as an ASCII character.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&lt;s</td>
+ <td>IN_STR</td>
+ <td> -- s </td>
+ <td>A string is read from the input via the scanf(3) format string " %as". The
+ resulting string is pushed onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&lt;d</td>
+ <td>IN_STR</td>
+ <td> -- w </td>
+ <td>An integer is read from the input via the scanf(3) format string " %d". The
+ resulting value is pushed onto the stack</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>&lt;c</td>
+ <td>IN_CHR</td>
+ <td> -- w </td>
+ <td>A single character is read from the input via the scanf(3) format string
+ " %c". The value is converted to an integer and pushed onto the stack.</td>
+</tr>
+<tr><td>DUMP</td>
+ <td>DUMP</td>
+ <td> -- </td>
+ <td>The stack contents are dumped to standard output. This is useful for
+ debugging your definitions. Put DUMP at the beginning and end of a definition
+ to see instantly the net effect of the definition.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_section"> <a name="directory">Directory Structure</a></div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>The source code, test programs, and sample programs can all be found
+under the LLVM "projects" directory. You will need to obtain the LLVM sources
+to find it (either via anonymous CVS or a tarball. See the
+<a href="GettingStarted.html">Getting Started</a> document).</p>
+<p>Under the "projects" directory there is a directory named "stacker". That
+directory contains everything, as follows:</p>
+<ul>
+ <li><em>lib</em> - contains most of the source code
+ <ul>
+ <li><em>lib/compiler</em> - contains the compiler library
+ <li><em>lib/runtime</em> - contains the runtime library
+ </ul></li>
+ <li><em>test</em> - contains the test programs</li>
+ <li><em>tools</em> - contains the Stacker compiler main program, stkrc
+ <ul>
+ <li><em>lib/stkrc</em> - contains the Stacker compiler main program
+ </ul</li>
+ <li><em>sample</em> - contains the sample programs</li>
+</ul>
+</div>
+<!-- ======================================================================= -->
+<div class="doc_section"> <a name="directory">Prime: A Complete Example</a></div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p>The following fully documented program highlights many of features of both
+the Stacker language and what is possible with LLVM. The program simply
+prints out the prime numbers until it reaches
+</p>
+</div>
+<div class="doc_text">
+<p><code>
+<![CDATA[
+################################################################################
+#
+# Brute force prime number generator
+#
+# This program is written in classic Stacker style, that being the style of a
+# stack. Start at the bottom and read your way up !
+#
+# Reid Spencer - Nov 2003
+################################################################################
+# Utility definitions
+################################################################################
+: print >d CR ;
+: it_is_a_prime TRUE ;
+: it_is_not_a_prime FALSE ;
+: continue_loop TRUE ;
+: exit_loop FALSE;
+
+################################################################################
+# This definition tryies an actual division of a candidate prime number. It
+# determines whether the division loop on this candidate should continue or
+# not.
+# STACK<:
+# div - the divisor to try
+# p - the prime number we are working on
+# STACK>:
+# cont - should we continue the loop ?
+# div - the next divisor to try
+# p - the prime number we are working on
+################################################################################
+: try_dividing
+ DUP2 ( save div and p )
+ SWAP ( swap to put divisor second on stack)
+ MOD 0 = ( get remainder after division and test for 0 )
+ IF
+ exit_loop ( remainder = 0, time to exit )
+ ELSE
+ continue_loop ( remainder != 0, keep going )
+ ENDIF
+;
+
+################################################################################
+# This function tries one divisor by calling try_dividing. But, before doing
+# that it checks to see if the value is 1. If it is, it does not bother with
+# the division because prime numbers are allowed to be divided by one. The
<