So after my last post somebody give me a “very poor” vote – I am consoling myself with the idea that was because they are really very keen for an assembly-based Forth to run on their RISC-V SBC and not because they thought it was an incoherent ramble.
In any case I have continued to work on Riscyforth – adding to its functionality and edging closer all the time to matching the Forth standard – getting close enough now to describe it as “Forth” and not just “Forth-like”.
Eight months ago, when I started, reading an online copy of “Threaded Interpretive Languages” which promised you could write your own TIL in a few weeks, I never considered using anything other than assembly to write it – just because I’m so old I thought that’s was the whole point of Forth – an interpreted language but written in machine code for speed.
I’ve learnt a lot on the way: including not to believe you can get from scratch to writing a working language in a few weeks – especially not in the world of virtual memory. Though I dare say, in the extremely unlikely event of someone commissioning me to write them a Forth from the ground up, I wouldn’t take eight months to get this far either next time.
One thing I have definitely learnt is the power and importance of unit testing – it matters quite a lot when you are putting together something on your own and can often make one assumption too many – a decent unit test soon clears you of that misapprehension.
What I haven’t got includes any users (never mind co-developers) or any useful or interesting programs.
On the former, RISC-V single board computers (SBCs) were promised to be widely available just about now, but the cancelling of the Beagle V project means that the more expensive Nezha is all that’s out there for now (I have one and it’s what is running in the image above). Compared to the ultra-cheap ARM boards (or even the high-end examples like some of the Raspberry Pi SBC kits) it’s fair to say RISC-V is not yet at the races, and the only users are likely to be people like me – hoping and waiting for the revolution to get here.
I picked Forth because the hope was it would give the first generation of RISC-V SBC hackers an easy way to get at their hardware and that is still the case, but there has to be some hardware to get at.
So I still have the sense I am working away on something that nobody else might ever want to use (the fact that it’s written in assembly also makes it fundamentally non-portable – I just cannot say ‘oh well let’s switch to the Raspberry Pi’!).
But if you are interested, current features of Riscyforth include:
- Support for deeply nested loops and conditionals
- Write your own words using : and ; (ie it is easy to extend the language by writing secondary words out of the existing primary words)
- A custom memory allocator for arbitrary blocks of memory
- Support for VARIABLE and CONSTANT
- All (or almost all?) the stack operations you would expect
- Hex, octal, decimal and binary support
The main thing currently missing is support for CREATE and a data space, but now I’ve grappled with the memory allocator (for general memory allocation) I will move on that. The listing of the test file might give you some ideas of what’s there, but even that is now behind where the code base is (yes, I know this isn’t how test-based development is meant to work!)
\ Unit tests
\ Stack operations tests
: testOVER2
." Testing OVER2 " 5 SPACES
10 30 50 90 70 OVER2
50 = SWAP 30 = AND IF ." OVER2 passed " else ." OVER2 FAILED " then cr
;
: testDrop2
." Testing DROP2 " 5 spaces
99 2 3 4
drop2
2 = if ." DROP2 passed " else ." DROP2 FAILED " then cr
;
: testSquare
." Testing SQUARE " 5 spaces
7 square
49 = if ." SQUARE passed " else ." SQUARE FAILED " then cr
;
: testCube
." Testing CUBE " 5 spaces
5 cube
125 = if ." CUBE passed " else ." CUBE FAILED " then 5 spaces
3 cube
28 = if ." CUBE FAILED " else ." CUBE passed " then cr
;
: testNIP2
." Testing NIP2 " 5 spaces
10 20 30 40 50 NIP2
50 = SWAP 40 = AND SWAP 10 = AND if ." NIP2 passed " else ." NIP2 FAILED " then cr
;
: testDUP2
." Testing DUP2 " 5 SPACES
900 800 700 DUP2
700 = SWAP 800 = AND SWAP 700 = AND SWAP 800 = AND if ." DUP2 passed" else ." DUP2 FAILED " then cr
;
: testtuck2
." Testing TUCK2 " 5 spaces
1 2 3 4 5 6 TUCK2
6 = swap 5 = and swap 4 = and swap 3 = and swap 6 = and swap 5 = and if ." TUCK2 passed" else ." TUCK2 FAILED " then cr
;
: testswap2
." Testing SWAP2 " 5 spaces
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 SWAP2
6 = swap 5 = and swap 8 = and if ." SWAP2 passed " else ." SWAP2 FAILED " then cr
;
: testrot2
." Testing ROT2 " 5 spaces
99 2 3 4 5 6 ROT2
2 = swap 99 = and swap 6 = and if ." ROT2 passed " else ." ROT2 FAILED " then cr
;
: TESTDUP
." Testing DUP " 5 spaces
34 45 DUP
45 = SWAP 45 = AND swap 34 = AND IF ." DUP passed " else ." DUP FAILED " then cr ;
: TESTBL
." Testing BL" 5 spaces BL 32 = if ." BL passed " else ." BL FAILED " then cr ;
: TESTDEPTH
." Testing DEPTH" 5 spaces
depth dup 0 < IF ." WARNING: Stack in negative territory " THEN 10 20 rot depth swap - 3 = IF ." DEPTH passed " ELSE ." DEPTH FAILED " then cr ;
: TESTINVERT
." Testing INVERT " 5 spaces
-1 INVERT IF ." INVERT FAILED " ELSE hex 0xF0F0F0F00F0F0F35 INVERT 0xF0F0F0FF0F0F0CA = IF ." INVERT passed " ELSE ." INVERT FAILED " then then decimal cr ;
\ Basic tests
: VERIFYTYPEPROMPT
." Verifying TYPEPROMPT " cr
TYPEPROMPT cr
;
: VERIFYGETNEXTLINE_IMM
." Verifying GETNEXTLINE_IMM - please press RETURN only " cr
GETNEXTLINE_IMM cr
;
: VERIFYOK
." Verifying OK " cr
OK cr
;
: VERIFYTOKENIZE_IMM
." Verifying TOKENIZE_IMM " cr
TOKENIZE_IMM
;
: VERIFYSEARCH
." Verifying SEARCH " cr
SEARCH
;
: TESTHEX
." Testing HEX " 5 SPACES
HEX 0x10 0xFF + DUP
0x10F = IF ." HEX passed with output 0x10F = " . ELSE ." HEX FAILED with output 0x10F = " . then cr
\ ensure other tests keep testdup2
DECIMAL
;
: TESTDECIMAL
." Testing DECIMAL " 5 SPACES
DECIMAL 20 DUP
20 = IF ." DECIMAL passed wth output 20 = " DUP . ." = " HEX . DECIMAL ELSE ." DECIMAL FAILED with output 20 = " DUP . ." = " HEX . DECIMAL THEN CR
;
: TESTOCTAL
." Testing OCTAL " 5 SPACES OCTAL 20 DUP DECIMAL 16 = IF ." OCTAL passed with output 20o = " DUP OCTAL . ." = " DECIMAL .
ELSE ." OCTAL FAILED with 20o = " DUP OCTAL . ." = " DECIMAL . THEN CR ;
: VERIFYBINARY
." Verifying BINARY - " 1 2 4 8 16 32 64 128 256 512
BINARY ." powers of 2 from 9 to 0 in binary... " cr
. cr . cr . cr . cr . cr . cr . cr . cr . cr . cr DECIMAL ;
: VERIFYDOT
." Verifying DOT " 5 spaces 0 1 2 3 4 5
." ... should see countdown from 5 to 0: " . . . . . . CR ;
: TESTADD
." Testing ADD " 5 SPACES 900 -899 +
IF ." ADD passed " ELSE ." ADD FAILED " THEN CR ;
: testMUL
." Testing MUL " 5 spaces
5 5 5 * *
5 cube
= if ." MUL passed " else ." MUL FAILED " then cr
;
: TESTDIV
." Testing DIV " 5 SPACES 99 11 / 101 11 / * 81 =
IF ." DIV passed " else ." DIV FAILED " then cr ;
: TESTSUB
." Testing SUB " 5 spaces
75 22 - 53 = IF ." SUB passed " else ." SUB FAILED " then cr ;
: TESTPLUS1
." Testing 1+ " 5 SPACES
10 1+ 11 = IF ." 1+ passed " ELSE ." 1+ FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTPLUS2
." Testing 2+ " 5 SPACES
10 2+ 12 = IF ." 2+ passed " ELSE ." 2+ FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTMINUS1
." Testing 1- " 5 spaces
-1 1- -2 = IF ." 1- passed " ELSE ." 1- FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTMINUS2
." Testing 2- " 5 SPACES
10 2- 8 = IF ." 2- passed " ELSE ." 2- FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTUNDERPLUS
." Testing UNDERPLUS" 5 spaces
10 15 20 underplus 30 = if ." UNDERPLUS passed" else ." UNDERPLUS FAILED" then cr ;
: TESTMOD
." Testing MOD" 5 spaces
13 7 mod 6 = if ." MOD passed" else ." MOD FAILED" then cr ;
: TESTSLMOD
." Testing /MOD" 5 spaces
13 7 /mod 1 = swap 6 = and if ." /MOD passed " else ." /MOD FAILED" then cr ;
: TESTNEGATE
." Testing NEGATE" 5 spaces 13 negate -13 =
if ." NEGATE passed" else ." NEGATE FAILED" then cr ;
: TESTABS
." Testing ABS" 5 spaces -13 abs 13 =
if ." ABS passed" else ." ABS FAILED" then cr ;
: TESTMINMAX
." Testing MAX and MIN" 5 spaces
20 10 dup2 MAX 20 = if ." MAX passed and " else ." MAX FAILED and " then min 10 = if ." MIN passed." else ." MIN FAILED." then cr ;
: TESTSHIFTS
." Testing LSHIFT and RSHIFT" 5 spaces
10 4 lshift 160 = IF ." LSHIFT passed " ELSE ." LSHIFT FAILED " then 48 2 rshift 12 = if ." RSHIFT passed " ELSE ." RSHIFT FAILED " THEN cr ;
: VERIFYWORDLIST
." Verifying WORDS .... " WORDS CR ;
: TESTLITERALNUMB
." Testing LITERALNUMB .... " 213 213 = IF ." LITERALNUMB passed " ELSE ." LITERALNUMB FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTVARIABLE
." Testing VARIABLE and VARIN (and @ and !)" 5 SPACES
VARIABLE OLDGEEZER 901 OLDGEEZER ! OLDGEEZER DUP @ 1+ SWAP ! OLDGEEZER @ 902 =
IF ." VARIABLE, VARIN, @ and ! passed " ELSE ." VARIABLE, VARIN, @ and ! FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTCONSTANT
." Testing CONSTANT " 5 SPACES
365 CONSTANT DAYS 7 CONSTANT WEEK DAYS WEEK / 52 = IF -3 CONSTANT NEGNUMB NEGNUMB WEEK + 4 = IF ." CONSTANT passed " ELSE ." CONSTANT FAILED " THEN CR ELSE ." CONSTANT has FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTTYPE
." Verifying GETLINE, TYPE and TIB " CR ." Please enter some text to be echoed back. " CR
GETLINE CR ." Echoing... " TIB SWAP TYPE CR ;
: TESTCHAR
." Testing CHAR" 5 spaces
char Z 90 = IF char z 122 = IF ." CHAR passed " else ." CHAR FAILED " then else ." CHAR FAILED " THEN cr ;
: VERIFYSOURCE
." Verifying SOURCE" 5 spaces
source type cr ;
\ Test if else then
: TESTCONDITIONALS
." Testing IF ... ELSE ... THEN conditionals. " CR
1 if ." Simple IF passed " else ." Simple IF FAILED " then cr
0 1 if ." Testing nested IF... " if ." Nested IF FAILED " else ." Nested IF passed " then 5 5 * . then ." = 25 " cr
1 0 if ." Failed a final test of IF " else ." A final test of IF ... " if ." is passed " else ." is FAILED " then then cr ;
\ Stuff to test EXIT
: EXITTEST1
EXIT ." If you see this EXIT FAILED " CR ;
: EXITTEST2
VARIABLE EXITVAR 200 EXITVAR ! ;
: EXITTEST3
EXITVAR DUP @ 1+ SWAP ! EXITVAR DUP @ 1+ SWAP ! EXIT EXITVAR DUP @ 1+ SWAP ! ;
: TESTEXIT
." Testing EXIT " 5 SPACES EXITTEST1
EXITTEST2 EXITTEST3 EXITVAR @ 202 = IF ." EXIT passed " ELSE ." EXIT FAILED " THEN CR ;
\ Test return stack words
: TESTRSTACKBASICS
." Testing >R, R@ and R> along with RDROP" cr
34 35 36 >R >R >R R@ 34 = RDROP R@ 35 = AND RDROP R@ 36 = AND RDROP if ." >R, R@ and RDROP passed " else ." >R, R@ and RDROP FAILED" then cr
99 >R R> 99 = if ." R> passed " else ." R> FAILED " then cr ;
\ loop
: TESTBEGINEND
." Testing BEGIN ... END loop " 5 SPACES
32 BEGIN DUP EMIT 1+ DUP 127 > END ." BEGIN ... END passed " CR ;
: TESTBEGINWHILE
." Testing BEGIN ... WHILE " 5 spaces
32 BEGIN DUP space hex . space decimal DUP 100 < IF DUP EMIT 1+ ELSE DUP 32 - EMIT 1+ WHILE DUP 110 = END ." BEGIN ... WHILE passed " cr ;
: TESTDOLOOP
." Testing DO ... LOOP " 5 spaces
1 10 1 DO DUP 1+ LOOP 10 = IF ." DO ... LOOP passed" ELSE ." DO ... LOOP FAILED" THEN CR ;
: TESTPLUSLOOP
." Testing DO .... +LOOP" 5 SPACES
1 100 1 DO DUP 1+ 101 +LOOP 2 = IF ." DO ... +LOOP passed" ELSE ." DO .... +LOOP FAILED" THEN CR ;
: VERIFYIJ
." Verifying I and J in nested loops" CR
10 0 DO 10 0 DO ." ( " J . ." , " I . ." ) " LOOP CR LOOP
." I and J verified" CR ;
: VERIFYLEAVE
." Verifying LEAVE and UNLOOP " CR
10 0 DO 10 0 DO J I > J I = OR IF ." ( " J . ." , " I . ." ) " ELSE UNLOOP LEAVE 3 0 DO LOOP 3 0 DO LOOP 3 0 DO LOOP THEN LOOP CR LOOP
." LEAVE and UNLOOP verified" CR ;
\ Testing memory functions
: ZZ ." ', EXECUTE and C! passed " ;
: TESTINGTICK
." Testing ', EXECUTE and C! " 5 spaces
hex 0x58 decimal ' ZZ 24 + C! ' XZ execute cr
\ Change back or else subsequent tests will break
." Testing one more time " 5 spaces
hex 0x5A decimal ' xz 24 + C! ' zZ exeCUTE cr ;
: testcfetch
." Testing C@" 5 spaces
' XOR 24 + c@ 88 = if ." C@ passed " else ." C@ FAILED " then cr ;
\ Dummy words to use in MOVE test
: ZM * ;
: ZD / ;
: reup decimal 68 ' ZM 25 + C! ;
: TESTINGMOVE
." Testing MOVE " 5 spaces
10 10 ZM 100 = IF ' ZM 24 + ' ZD 24 + 24 move 100 2 ' ZM execute 50 = IF ." MOVE passed " else ." MOVE FAILED " then cr else ." Test failure " then reup ;
: TESTFETCH
." Testing @ (and BASE)" 5 spaces
octal base @ 10 = hex base @ 0x10 = AND decimal base @ 10 = AND if ." @ and BASE passed" ELSE ." @ and BASE FAILED" then cr ;
: TESTPLUSSTORE
." Testing +! " 5 SPACES ' ZM 24 + -1 SWAP +! 5 5 ' YM EXECUTE 25 = IF ." +! passed " ELSE ." +! FAILED " THEN 2 SPACES
' YM 24 + 1 SWAP ' +! execute 5 5 ' ZM EXECUTE 25 = INVERT IF ." +! address find FAILED " THEN CR ;
: TESTPADFILLERASE
." Testing PAD, FILL and ERASE " 5 SPACES
PAD 10 35 FILL PAD 3 + 1 ERASE PAD 2 + C@ 35 = PAD 3 + C@ 0 = AND PAD 4 + C@ 35 = AND IF ." PAD, FILL and ERASE passed" ELSE ." PAD, FILL and ERASE FAILED" THEN CR ;
\ Test groupings
\ Memory tests
: TESTMEMORY
." Testing memory manipulation words" cr
TESTINGTICK testcfetch testingmove testchar testfetch testplusstore TESTPADFILLERASE
." Testing of memory code complete" cr ;
\ Test loops
: TESTLOOPS
." Running tests of looping " cr
TESTBEGINEND testbeginwhile TESTDOLOOP TESTPLUSLOOP VERIFYIJ VERIFYLEAVE
." Testing of loops complete" CR ;
\ Test Rstack
: RSTACKTESTS
." Testing return stack" cr
testrstackbasics
." Testing return stack complete" cr ;
\ Test listwords
: LISTWORDSTESTS
." Running 'listwords' group of tests " CR
VERIFYWORDLIST TESTLITERALNUMB TESTVARIABLE TESTTYPE
VERIFYSOURCE TESTCONSTANT
." 'listwords' group of tests complete " CR ;
\ Test integer
: INTEGERTESTS
." Running integer tests " cr
TESTADD TESTMUL TESTDIV TESTSUB TESTPLUS1 TESTMINUS1
TESTminus2 testplus2 testunderplus testminmax testmod testslmod testabs testnegate testshifts
." Integer tests complete " CR
;
\ Group of stack operations tests
: STACKOPTESTS
." Running stackop tests " cr
TESTOVER2
testDrop2 testSquare
testCube
testNIP2 testDUP2
testtuck2 testswap2 testrot2 testdup testbl testdepth
testinvert
." stackop tests over " cr
;
\ Group of Basics tests
: BASICSTESTS
." Running basics tests and verifications " cr
VERIFYTYPEPROMPT
VERIFYGETNEXTLINE_IMM
VERIFYOK
VERIFYTOKENIZE_IMM
VERIFYSEARCH OK
." ***Any error message above can almost certainly be ignored*** " CR
TESTHEX TESTDECIMAL TESTOCTAL VERIFYBINARY TESTEXIT
." Verifying ENCSQ with this output " cr
." Verifying COMMENT " cr \ ." COMMENT verification FAILED "
VERIFYDOT
." Basics tests and verifications over " cr
;
\ Run all the tests
: UTS
DECIMAL
." Running unit tests " cr
STACKOPTESTS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
BASICSTESTS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
INTEGERTESTS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
LISTWORDSTESTS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
TESTCONDITIONALS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
RSTACKTESTS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
TESTLOOPS
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
TESTMEMORY
." Press enter to continue " GETLINE CR
ABORT" Verifying ABORTCOMM and leaving tests with this message " ." ABORTCOMM has FAILED"
;
cartesian product ... stuff about computing mostly 