Zip Esoteric Language (zipcc)

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   Minimalist AOT Compiler

Zip is a minimalist, stack-and-memory-oriented esoteric language designed for high-performance native execution. This repository provides a complete toolchain, including a Lexer, Parser, AST Interpreter, and a native Ahead-of-Time (AOT) Compiler that generates x86_64 machine code for both Linux (ELF) and Windows (PE) platforms.

Technical Specifications

Memory Model

Zip utilizes a cell-based memory architecture.

• Addressing: Memory is accessed via the $[index] syntax.
• Storage: The compiler maps memory to a heap-allocated region using the r12 register as a base pointer.
• Word Size: Each memory slot is treated as a 64-bit (8-byte) integer.

Instruction Set

The language uses S-expressions for operation nesting:

• (= $[target] value): Assignment to a memory cell.
• (+ a b) / (- a b): Basic 64-bit arithmetic operations.
• (out value): Writes a single byte (ASCII) to stdout.
• (in): Reads a single byte from stdin.
• (repeat {condition} body): A conditional loop that executes while the condition evaluates to false.

Turing Completeness

Zip is Turing Complete as it meets the requirements for a Universal Turing Machine:

1. Infinite Tape emulation: Provided by the arbitrary indexed memory $[index].
2. Pointer Indirection: Achieved through nested memory access (e.g., $[ $[0] ]).
3. Conditional Branching: Implemented via the repeat statement with comparison operators (-e, -ne, -l, -g).

Compiler Architecture

Compiler Architecture

The compiler translates the AST into raw x86_64 machine code without an external assembler or linker.

Linux (ELF)

• Memory Allocation: Uses the mmap syscall (0x09) to reserve a 64KB memory region for the program's workspace.
• Execution: Generates a standard ELF64 header with a single LOAD segment.
• Exit: Appends a sys_exit (0x3C) syscall at the end of the instruction stream.

Windows (PE)

• Header: Generates a valid DOS MZ header and a PE COFF header.
• Section: Emits a .text section containing the executable code.
• Entry: Uses a ret (0xC3) based exit strategy for the execution flow.

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Usage

Extension

The standard file extension for Zip source code is .zp.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14+)

Execution

To interpret a program:

node zipcc.js <file.zp> -i

To compile to a native binary:

node zipcc.js <file.zp> -c -o <output_name>

Example: Echo Program (echo.zp)

# Read a character and print it back
(= $[0] (in))
(out $[0])
(out 10) # Newline

Example: Hello World (hello.zp)

(out 72) (out 101) (out 108) (out 108) (out 111) (out 32)
(out 87) (out 111) (out 114) (out 108) (out 100) (out 33)
(out 10)

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Author: Kamil Malicki License: Apache 2.0 Repository: GitHub