Compilers for "SSL", a "simple scripting language."
Just for fun, I want to write the same compiler in different source languages.
The compilers all emit x64 assembly language.
See language overview.
I built the Python version first. It's also the smallest, at only about 500 lines.
Then I built the Java version, including some JUnit tests. I have the most experience with Java (including the d2lang compiler).
C++ was a challenge, because I hadn't written any in a long time (like, 25 years). I don't remember C++ being so annoying with declaring every method in the header file.
Next I built the golang version. This is now the most golang I have ever written
(about 700 lines). Since golang doesn't really have classes, it was odd to have
to add (this *Parser) for every method. Also, golang doesn't have method
overloading, which I also found surprising.
The C version was really annoying because:
- It doesn't have "simple" string concatenation
- No built-in map, set, list
I had heard lots about Kotlin but never written a line of code before this project. I think I enjoyed the Kotlin version the most so far, maybe because of how it so easily builds string literals. The language reminds me of the best parts of Java and the best parts of Python.
(At this point I started writing tests with the code, instead of having to run against the samples manually.)
Ruby was ok. It thinks it's a better Python, but to me, I feel it's like the worst of Python and JavaScript...
Scala was new for me as well. It seems to be a cross between Kotlin and Python.
I liked the ability to automatically run tests whenever a file changed (via the
~test command in sbt.)
I went back and added tests for Python, Go and C++, when I revamped the two-character symbol lexical analysis.
The awk implementation was kind of fun, but annoying, because it's completely un-type-checked. If you mistype a variable, it defaults to null/undefined, instead of giving an error...
Rust was a challenge; I started and stopped it a few times before finally getting the basics figured out. I still don't quite understand its memory or module models, but know just enough to be dangerous.
Future languages may include: