Languages Implementation with Parrot A study case: Lua on Parrot
Franois Perrad [Link]@[Link] PAUSE ID: PERRAD Parrot SVN: fperrad
Languages in Parrot
today, more than 50
see languages/LANGUAGES_STATUS.pod
PIR generators (antlr, yapp, yacc, )
jako, basic, PJS
PIR generators written with PIR
TCL, Python, Ruby, Perl, PHP, Lua
Bytecode Translators
dotnet, WMLScript
Obfuscated
bf, befunge, ook
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Parrot Compiler Toolkit
Patrick R. Michaud
See his presentation at YAPC::NA2007
Parser Grammar Engine Tree Grammar Engine Parrot Abstract Syntax Tree
Node, Op, Val, Var, Stmts, Block
Parrot Opcode Syntax Tree
Node, Ops, Op, Label, Sub
HLLCompiler
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Why choose Lua
Prove the design goal : supports all dynamic languages Lua has advanced features Lua is small & simple A good way to learn Lua
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Lua
Academic origin (1993, Brazil) Open Source
but Closed Development
Often embedded into applications Widely used in Game industry [Link]
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Lua features
function as first class exception (as library) closure coroutine (as library) iterator regex (with its own dialect) some OO mechanisms tail call
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Lua is small
8 types
nil, boolean, number, string, function, userdata, thread, table
21 keywords
No builtin function, only standard libraries
Grammar EBNF
1 page
Reference Manual
< 100 pages
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Lua On Parrot
Native PMC Tests Compiler based on Parse::Yapp Lua Standard Libraries Interpreter based on PGE/TGE
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Lua PMC
Native implementation of all Lua types
As a shared library or a DLL
Preprocessed C dialect
VTABLE methods Non-VTABLE methods Specifics methods
Allows in PIR :
.HLL 'Lua', 'lua_group' .local pmc MyStr new MyStr, 'LuaString' set MyStr, 'Some text'
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Lua PMC
pmclass LuaNumber extends LuaAny does float dynpmc group lua_group hll Lua maps Float { void init() { PMC_num_val(SELF) = 0.0; } STRING* name() { return const_string(INTERP, "number"); } void increment() { PMC_num_val(SELF) ++; }
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Lua PMC
INTVAL cmp(PMC* value) { MMD_LuaNumber: { FLOATVAL diff; diff = PMC_num_val(SELF) - PMC_num_val(value); return diff > 0 ? 1 : diff < 0 ? -1 : 0; } MMD_DEFAULT: { real_exception(INTERP, NULL, ILL_INHERIT, "attempt to compare number with %s", string_to_cstring(INTERP, VTABLE_name(INTERP, value))); return 0; } }
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Lua Tests
as part of smoke test
make languages-smoke [Link]
a framework from Perl
use Test::More; pir_output_is, pir_output_like, language_output_is, language_output_like
Test Driven Development today, Lua has more than 970 tests
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Lua Tests
# file: examples.t language_output_is('lua',<<'CODE',<<'OUT','factorial'); function factorial (n) if n == 0 then return 1 else return n * factorial(n-1) end end print(factorial(7)) CODE 5040 OUT
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[Link] with Parse::Yapp
PGE was not available at this time Yapp is a good tool Split complexity
What PIR needed by Lua How generate it
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Lua Standard Libraries
9 libraries written in PIR:
basic (24/25), coroutine (6/6), package (3/4), string (13/14), table (8/8), math (28/28), IO (17/18), OS (11/11), debug (7/14)
More complex functions are :
Eval, Exception, Regex (extends PGE)
A huge work
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Lua Standard Libraries
=item C<[Link] (s)> Receives a string and returns its length. =cut .sub 'len' :anon .param pmc s :optional .param pmc extra :slurpy .local pmc res $S1 = lua_checkstring(1, s) $I0 = length $S1 new res, 'LuaNumber' set res, $I0 .return (res) .end fperrad@FWP07
Lua on Parrot
PGE
Lua grammar + optable : src/[Link]
TGE
PAST-pm : src/[Link] POST : src/[Link]
HLLCompiler
Lua::Compiler + Utils : src/[Link]
Standalone interpreter
Entry point : [Link] A single PBC : [Link]
PIR generation & execution
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Lua on Parrot
A lexicography test : test_lex.pir [Link] target=PARSE|PAST|POST|PIR
.sub 'main' :main .param pmc args load_bytecode 'languages/lua/[Link]' $P0 = compreg 'Lua' $S0 = "Compiler Lua 5.1 on Parrot" $P0.commandline_banner($S0) $P0.command_line(args) .end
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Lua Parse
"parse" => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print \"Hello world!\"\r\n" @ 0 { <block> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print \"Hello world!\"\r\n" @ 0 { <statement> => ResizablePMCArray (size:1) [ PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print \"Hello world!\"\r\n" @ 0 { <expression_stat> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print \"Hello world! <primary_expression> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print \"Hello w <prefix_expression> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print " @ 0 { <Name> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "print" @ 0 } <slice_expression> => ResizablePMCArray (size:1) [ PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "\"Hello world!\"\r\n" @ 6 { <function_args> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "\"Hello world! <string> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "\"Hello world! <quoted_literal> => PMC 'Lua::Grammar' => "Hello wor } fperrad@FWP07 }
Lua PAST
"past" => PMC 'PAST::Block' { [0] => PMC 'PAST::Var' { <name> => "vararg" <scope> => "parameter" <isslurpy> => 1 } [1] => PMC 'PAST::Stmts' { [0] => PMC 'PAST::Op' { <pasttype> => "call" [0] => PMC 'PAST::Var' { <name> => "print" <scope> => "package" } [1] => PMC 'PAST::Val' { <vtype> => "LuaString" <name> => "Hello world!" } } fperrad@FWP07
Lua - PIR
.HLL "Lua", "lua_group" .sub "&start"
:anon :main
.end .sub "&main_10" :outer("&start") :anon :lex .param pmc vararg :slurpy .const .LuaString k_print = "print" .local pmc subr subr = interpinfo .INTERPINFO_CURRENT_SUB $P11 = [Link]() set $P12, $P11[k_print] new $P13, "LuaString" set $P13, "Hello world!" $P12($P13) .end
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Status of Lua on Parrot
Garbage Collection problems
performance
Parrot IO & OS subsystems are incomplete Next step : shift to PCT See languages/lua/doc/[Link]
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Feedback to Parrot
Lua on Parrot is successful Tool effectiveness
Only 4 kLoC
Learning curve challenge
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Back to Perl6 / Parrot
Conditions of success
Language Perl6 : OK Parrot Core VM : OK Parrot Compiler Toolkit : OK Wrapper Toolkit
NCI is better than Perl XS The state of the art : Python pyrex & ctype
Distributed Computing
~ Java RMI
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