GSoC 2011 Proposal: Bytecode Emitters for POST

Sun Apr 3 07:11:02 UTC 2011

Hello.

1. It's really good plan.
2. Unfortunatelly all of this is already implemented (mostly) in
PIRATE (parsing and emitting newPOST for PIR)  and pct_pbc branch (for
"library to emit PBC from POST directly").

-- 
Bacek

On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 6:48 AM, Brian Gernhardt
<benji at silverinsanity.com> wrote:
> The following text is also online at https://gist.github.com/899867 and further revisions will updated there.  Comments are welcome via e-mail, gist comments, or IRC.
>
> --------------------
>
> **Name:** Brian Gernhardt
>
> **E-Mail:** benji at silverinsanity.com
> **IRC:** benabik on irc.perl.org, irc.freenode.net
>
> Bytecode Emitters for POST
> ==========================
>
> Abstract
> --------
>
> Create an extension to PCT that generates bytecode directly from POST.
>
> Benefits to the Parrot VM and Open Source Community
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
> While initially this project would make little difference in the day to day
> usage of Parrot, it should provide a minor speed improvement and lay the
> groundwork for further projects.  With direct bytecode generation, parrot
> does not have to spend time parsing PIR that was generated by a language
> using PCT.  Removing the PIR dependency from PCT also means that PIR could
> be removed from parrot or even implemented using PCT.
>
> Deliverables
> ------------
>
> The main deliverable would be a library that can convert POST trees to
> Parrot bytecode.  This library should have an interface similar (but not
> identical to) the existing POST::Compiler and will walk the POST tree and
> use the Packfile and related PMCs to generate a PBC file.
>
> Along side this library should be both technical and user documentation.
> The technical documentation will be written as POD comments among the code
> describing both the API and the algorithms involved in detail.  The user
> documentation should be a step by step guide for HLL languages to use the
> library.
>
> In addition, a test suite needs to be written to ensure that the library
> performs as required.  The principles of Test-Driven Development will be
> used so that the test suite is constantly up to date with the current
> status of the project.
>
> Project Details
> ---------------
>
> The bytecode generator should be implemented as an external library that
> takes in a POST tree and outputs a PBC file.  This should be possible
> without any alterations to the parrot source, since any changes can be
> handled either by subclassing or creating custom PMCs.  The library itself
> will be written in Winxed as it provides a good balance between power and
> ease of use.  For testing, Rosella will be used for similar reasons.
>
> This project will borrow heavily on the design of POST::Compiler and IMCC,
> as to some extent it will need to perform tasks done by both.  It needs to
> walk the tree and perform similar translations tasks as POST::Compiler, but
> instead of outputting text it will need to translate the opcode names to
> raw binary as IMCC does.  If simple tree traversal is insufficient, then
> the tree-optimization library will provide more complex pattern matching.
>
> The week prior to each evaluation will be dedicated to bugfixes and other
> issues.  This extra time should help to both produce a high quality result
> and absorb any excess time caused by unforeseen issues.  Also, while this
> proposal describes the project as an external library the intention is
> that the code could be integrated into the main PCT library under
> `compilers/pct`.  A week at the very end of GSoC will be allocated to code
> cleanup to address any issues that could prevent such a merge.
>
> There is one major gap in this proposal: `POST::Op` nodes of type `inline`.
> Unfortunately, completely implementing such nodes requires a full PIR
> parser.  Such handling is outside the scope of this project, but all such
> nodes should route through a single place in the code for easy extension.
>
> Project Schedule
> ----------------
>
> This schedule is written in terms of milestones, so the work listed on each
> date will be done in the week(s) prior.
>
> **May 16**: My course-load for this quarter is heavy, but I intend to
> spend as much time as possible on IRC and reading existing sources and
> documentation.  If time allows, I will create at least the skeleton of the
> library with the outline of code, tests and documentation.
>
> **May 16 - 20**: Finals week at RIT.  No GSoC work is likely during this
> time.
>
> **May 24** _GSoC Start Date_
>
> **May 30** _Basic Library Structure_:  Functional build and test system.
> Documentation describing the main API of the library should be included.
>
> **June 6** _Empty Output_: Library can accept a (TBD) minimal POST tree and
> output a PBC file that can be loaded and run but performs no real work.
>
> **June 13** _Opcode Handling_: The framework to handle processing `POST::Op`
> nodes will be in place, although it will only handle a small set of opcodes
> such as "add" and "say".
>
> **June 20** _Constant Loading_: The ability to load arbitrary constants into
> the constants segment will be implemented.
>
> **June 27** _Opcode Lookup_: Full access to core Parrot opcodes via the
> information available in the OpLib PMC.
>
> **July 4** _Label Handling_: Populate the Fixup segment and arrange for it to
> be used whenever labels are needed.
>
> **July 11** _Midterm Evaluation_: Bugfixes.  At this point the library
> should be able to compile simple programs that lack subroutines.
>
> **July 18** _Basic Subroutines_: Basic handling of `POST::Sub` nodes,
> including subroutine names and simple parameters.
>
> **July 25** _Subroutine Attributes_: Handling of subroutine attributes such
> as name, init, method, etc.
>
> **August 1** _Parameter Attributes_: Handling of :slurpy, :named, optional,
> etc.
>
> **August 6** _Dynops_: Handle loading dynamic opcode libraries and parsing
> their opcodes.
>
> **August 16** _Suggested 'Pencils down'_: Bugfixes
>
> **August 22** _Final 'Pencils down', evaluation_: Cleanup for possible merge
> to parrot.git
>
>
> References and Likely Mentors
> -----------------------------
>
> Trac listed cotto and bacek as possible mentors for this project, but I
> have not personally spoken to them about it.
>
> * [PDD 13: Bytecode](http://docs.parrot.org/parrot/latest/html/docs/pdds/draft/pdd13_bytecode.pod.html)
> * POST (parrot.git:compilers/pct/src/POST/)
> * IMCC (parrot.git:compilers/imcc/)
> * [tree-optimization](https://github.com/parrot/tree-optimization)
> * [pir compiler using PCT](https://github.com/parrot/pir)
> * [packfile.winxed](http://code.google.com/p/winxed/source/browse/trunk/examples/packfile.winxed)
>
>
> License
> -------
>
> I whole-heartedly support open source licenses and will be more than happy to
> use the Artistic 2.0 license suggested by Parrot.
>
> Bio
> ---
>
> My name is Brian C Gernhardt and I'm currently attending the Rochester
> Institute of Technology to obtain my Masters in Computer Science.  I did
> contracting for 4 years after getting my bachelor's degree (in CS from
> RIT).  My current focus has been language design, and I just completed a
> project where I implemented a [compiler on the JVM][rit-cs].
>
> [rit-cs]: http://cs.rit.edu/~bcg2784/ (My RIT webpage)
>
> I've been following Parrot for a couple years due to my interest in Perl 6
> and Rakudo.  I try to regularly produce smoke reports, which has already
> resulted in a couple of Trac tickets (#1544 & #2001).  For my compiler
> class, I wrote an [introduction to the Parrot Compiler Toolkit][cish].
> I've also worked on other open source projects.  I've worked the most on
> git but have also worked on Ruby on Rails, Radiant and fink.
>
> [cish]: http://github.com/benabik/cish (PCT Introduction)
>
> I've also been interested in a bytecode generator since I read the entry
> for it in the Parrot glossary:
>
>> **bcg**
>> Bytecode Generation: bcg will be part of the Parrot Compiler tools. It will
>> aid in converting POST to bytecode.
>
> Since my initials and the initials of the library match, I thought it would
> be an appropriate section of Parrot for me to work on.
>
> Eligibility
> -----------
>
> I am 29 and currently attending the Rochester Institute of Technology to obtain
> my Master's in Computer Science.  I have completed a quarter of graduate
> classes and can produce a transcript to prove such.
>
> _______________________________________________
> http://lists.parrot.org/mailman/listinfo/parrot-dev
>