clauf

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= clauf

ifdef::env-github[] image:https://github.com/foonathan/clauf/workflows/CI/badge.svg[Build Status] endif::[]

clauf is a work-in-progress C interpreter that is developed live on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbxut1xyrkCZ-9d_03G0KBU4uh782J1eN

== Goals and limitations

• Support an interesting subset of C23, until we get bored.
• Don't become a production ready C interpreter.
• Don't invest a lot of time in generating good error messages; only test happy path.
• Don't try and implement an existing C ABI.
• Do not implement the C preprocessor (for now).
• Try to turn as much undefined behavior into runtime panics as possible (integer overflow, invalid pointers, ...).

== FAQ

Why is it called clauf?:: It uses https://github.com/foonathan/lauf[lauf], a bytecode interpreter I'm working on as its backend.

Why?:: Two reasons: I wanted to try out livecoding and I needed something to see how usable lauf is.

Why C?:: Short answer: It won the twitter poll. + Long answer: C is a relatively small language that I am familiar with. It can be compiled in a single pass, does not require implementation of fancy type inference algorithms, and is low-level enough to really stress lauf's sandboxing abilities.

What external libraries are you using?::

• https://github.com/foonathan/lexy[lexy]: for parsing
• https://github.com/foonathan/lauf[lauf]: as the backend
• https://github.com/foonathan/dryad[dryad]: data structure utilities
• https://github.com/CLIUtils/CLI11[CLI11]: command-line argument parsing

== Program architecture

TODO, actually implement something first ;)