virgil
trackball
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virgil
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Garbage Collection for Systems Programmers
For (2) Virgil has several features that allow you to layout memory with various levels of control. I assume you meaning "array of structs", and you can do that with arrays of tuples, which will naturally be flattened and normalized based on the target (i.e. will be array-of-structs on native targets). You can define byte-exact layouts[1] (mostly for interfacing with other software and parsing binary formats), unbox ADTs, and soon you can even control the exact encoding of ADTs.
Virgil is GC'd.
[1] https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/doc/tutorial/La...
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The Return of the Frame Pointers
Virgil doesn't use frame pointers. If you don't have dynamic stack allocation, the frame of a given function has a fixed size can be found with a simple (binary-search) table lookup. Virgil's technique uses an additional page-indexed range that further restricts the lookup to be a few comparisons on average (O(log(# retpoints per page)). It combines the unwind info with stackmaps for GC. It takes very little space.
The main driver is in (https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/rt/native/Nativ... the rest of the code in the directory implements the decoding of metadata.
I think frame pointers only make sense if frames are dynamically-sized (i.e. have stack allocation of data). Otherwise it seems weird to me that a dynamic mechanism is used when a static mechanism would suffice; mostly because no one agreed on an ABI for the metadata encoding, or an unwind routine.
I believe the 1-2% measurement number. That's in the same ballpark as pervasive checks for array bounds checks. It's weird that the odd debugging and profiling task gets special pleading for a 1% cost but adding a layer of security gets the finger. Very bizarre priorities.
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Whose baseline (compiler) is it anyway?
This paper is the first time I seen mention of the Virgil programming language, from the same author:
https://github.com/titzer/virgil
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JEP 450: Compact Object Headers
JavaScript handles the "no identity hash" with WeakMap and WeakSet, which are language built-ins. For Virgil, I chose to leave out identity hashes and don't really regret it. It keeps the language simple and the separation clear. HashMap (entirely library code, not a language wormhole) takes the hash function and equality function as arguments to the constructor.
[1] https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/lib/util/Map.v3
This is partly my style too; I try to avoid using maps for things unless they are really far flung, and the things that end up serving as keys in one place usually end up serving as keys in lots of other places too.
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Retrofitting null-safety onto Java at Meta
Whoa, interesting. I didn't know Kotlin had all those constructs.
In Virgil, a method on an object (or ADT) can declare its return type as "this". Then the method implicitly returns the receiver object. That trick is very useful to allow a chain of calls such as object.foo().bar().baz(). I find it readable and easy to explain:
https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/doc/tutorial/Re...
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A Ruby program that generates itself (through a 128-language quine loop)
I hadn't written one until ~30 mins ago [1]. I cheated and looked at a Java quine (not particularly elegant, but easy to see what is going on.), but I wrote one for Virgil. Just think string substitution; a string with a hole in it and you substitute a copy of the string, quoted into the hole. Just one substitution suffices.
[1] https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/apps/Quine/Quin...
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Integer Conversions and Safe Comparisons in C++20
Virgil has a family of completely well-defined (i.e. no UB) fixed-size integer types with some hard-fought rules that I eventually got around to documenting here:
https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/doc/tutorial/Fi...
One of the key things is that values are never silently truncated (other than 2's-complement wrap-around) or values changed; only promotions. The only sane semantics for over-shifts (shifts larger than the size of the type) is to shift the bits out, like a window.
The upshot of all that is that Virgil has a pretty sane semantics for fixed-size integers, IMHO.
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Show HN: We are trying to (finally) get tail-calls into the WebAssembly standard
LLVM and other compilers that use SSA but target a stack machine can run a stackification phase. Even without reordering instructions, it seems to work well in practice.
In Virgil I implemented this for both the JVM and Wasm. Here's the algorithm used for Wasm:
https://github.com/titzer/virgil/blob/master/aeneas/src/mach...
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Hacker News top posts: Jul 2, 2022
Virgil: A fast and lightweight programming language that compiles to WASM\ (54 comments)
- Virgil: A fast and lightweight programming language that compiles to WASM
trackball
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Different Strokes for Different Folks
For an even more configurable mouse, check out the Ploopy mouse and trackballs: https://ploopy.co/
Fully open source, the mouse (that I own) uses QMK for its firmware. Which means I can use key binding layers rather than single buttons. In other words, one button acts like a shift button that modifies the action of the other buttons. So I have easy access to page up/down, mission control (what was exposé in macOS), paste plain (shift+option+cmd+v), etc etc. I don't have anything Emacs specific on the mouse, but my keyboard (Keychron Q10) has several macro keys that I have meta-x and ctrl-g bound to.
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My G502 mouse lasted 2 years before dying sometime in 2022. Found a G602 from 2013 that’s nearing 10 years and still kicking ass. They TRULY don’t make them like they used to.
If you truly want a mouse built to last, look into a Ploopy (https://ploopy.co/). You can get trackball ones, or a classic style mouse. It's fully open source and uses 3D printed parts, so not only can you easily get it repaired, you can also modify it to your hearts content. Also possible to remap the buttons or even program the microcontroller with custom code to do specific tasks if you wish.
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Wait what?... THEY MAKE MK MICE NOW?!?
I have no affiliation with https://ploopy.co, but as an enjoyer of their products, I'd urge you to take a look at their mouse & trackball if you want a proper custom mouse/trackball made for keyboard enthusiasts. 10/10 stuff.
- Fairphone announce modular headphones: Fairbuds XL
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Recommendations for Trackball I haven't considered?
Check out the Ploopy options. https://ploopy.co/
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Steam Deck + Framework modular handheld console idea
You might be interested in the very unfortunately named ploopy.
- We are dubbing it the "Macroball". Dank or jank?
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How loud does a Ploopy trackball get?
Print this to be as loud as possible.
- Any alternative to the HUGE? (no thumb balls)
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What are my alternatives to Atreus62
I haven’t gotten around to trying anything from fingerpunch yet (I think their faux fox series is probably their most popular) but I don’t imagine any of their cases meant for trackballs is all that hard to work with (and if you just want a trackball, Ploopy seems to be the go to)
What are some alternatives?
vigil - Vigil, the eternal morally vigilant programming language
ploopy-classic - A trackball mouse. Mechanical files, PCBs, and firmware all included.
libratbag - A DBus daemon to configure input devices, mainly high-end and gaming mice
mini-trackball - A small, open-source trackball, powered by QMK.
rust-asn1 - A Rust ASN.1 (DER) serializer.
trackpoint - How to integrate a trackpoint in a mechanical keyboard
kcachegrind - GUI to profilers such as Valgrind
dm_r_track
v86 - x86 PC emulator and x86-to-wasm JIT, running in the browser
nano-trackball - A very small trackball-only mouse. Mechanical files, PCBs, and firmware all included.
Solaar - Linux device manager for Logitech devices