Valence

Valence is a programming language where each symbol is a homophone with multiple meanings. Context determines the meaning of the symbol; if multiple readings remain, each interpretation plays out in parallel.

In Valence:

• Any symbol can be read as a variable name, an octal digit, a command, a type, or an expression
• For commands and expressions, most symbols have multiple interpretations based on parameter count
• Every possible reading of a program plays out in parallel
• Brackets can disambiguate a phrase when needed

There is no single line of Valence that isn't valid; any combination of the signs has multiple meanings. However, some programs have mismatched brackets or (detectable) infinite loops; during execution, these are skipped.

Project Status

Feel free to open issues or add failing tests for anything not already there. Here are the major things still in progress.

IN PROGRESS:

• INPUT (currently non-functional)
• Support for TRADE OPERATION in the interpreter
• Full testing of Queue and casting
• Some display fixes

Instructions

Each instruction is a single letter, borrowed from Ancient Greek numbering and measuring signs. While there is some association between some borrowed signs and usage, they all mean something significantly different in Valence.

symbol	typed as	interpretation	type	params
𐅶	q	0	octal digit	0
		𐅶	var	0
		int	type	0
		not	exp	1 (exp)
		add	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		while	cmd	1 (exp)
		add_assign	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐆇	w	1	octal digit	0
		𐆇	var	0
		read_as_digit	exp	1 (digit)
		subtract	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		if	cmd	1 (exp)
		while_queue	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐅾	e	2	octal digit	0
		𐅾	var	0
		read_as_var	exp	1 (var)
		div	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		end block	cmd	0
		goto	cmd	1 (exp)
		trade_op	cmd	2 (var, range): CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS
𐆋	a	3	octal digit	0
		𐆋	var	0
		queue	type	0
		equals	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		print	cmd	1 (exp)
𐆉	s	4	octal digit	0
		string	type	0
		int_or_floor	exp	1 (exp)
		cast	exp	2 (type, exp)
		label	cmd	1 (var)
		assign	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐅻	d	5	octal digit	0
		𐅻	var	0
		char	type	0
		mult_by_eight	exp	1 (exp)
		get_element (from queue)	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		jump	cmd	1 (exp)
		append	cmd	2 (var, exp)
𐆊	z	6	octal digit	0
		𐆊	var	0
		bool	type	0
		or	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		else	cmd	0
		else_if	cmd	1 (exp)
𐆁	x	7	octal digit	0
		𐆁	var	0
		ratio	type	0
		dequeue	var	1
		mul	exp	2 (exp, exp)
		input	cmd	1 (var)
		mul_assign	cmd	2 (var, exp)
[	[	begin lexical group
]	]	end lexical group

Example Programs

Hello World (with single interpretation)

[𐆋]𐆉[[𐅻]𐆉[[𐅻[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]𐅶[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]]
[𐅶]𐆉[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[[𐅻[𐆇𐆋]]𐅶[𐆇𐅻]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐆇𐆁]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐆇𐆋]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐅾𐆉]𐆉[𐅻[𐆇𐆉]]
[𐅶]𐅶[𐅾𐆉]
[𐆁]𐆉[[[𐅻[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]𐅶[𐅻[𐆇𐅾]]]𐅶[𐆇𐆁]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆁]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐆇𐆋]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐅶[𐆇[𐆊]]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐅶[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
𐆋[𐅾𐅶]

Hai / Bye

This program has two executions, one producing "Hai", the other "Bye":

[𐅶]𐆉𐆇𐆇
[𐆉]𐆉[𐆇𐆇]
[𐆁]𐆉[𐅶]
𐅾[𐆇[[𐅾𐆁]𐅶[𐆇𐅻]]]
𐆉[𐅻]
[𐆉]𐅶[[𐆇𐅶]𐆇[𐆇𐅾]]
𐆉[𐆊]
[𐆋]𐆉[[𐅻]𐆉[[[𐅻[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]]𐅶[𐆇𐅻]]𐅶[[𐅾𐆉]𐆁[𐆇𐆋]]]]
[𐅶]𐆉[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[𐅻[𐆇𐅻]]
[𐆋]𐅶[[𐆇𐅶]𐆇[[[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]𐅶[𐆇𐆁]]𐆁[𐅾𐆉]]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
[𐆋]𐅶[[𐆇𐅶]𐆇[𐆇𐆊]]
[𐆋]𐅶[[[𐅻[𐆇𐆇]]𐅶[𐆇𐆊]]𐆁[𐅾𐆉]]
[𐅶]𐅻[𐅾𐆋]
𐆋[𐅾𐅶]

The program splits in line 3:

𐅶 = 1
𐆉 = 1
𐆁 = 𐅶 (for Bye) | 𐆁 = 0 (for Hai)
goto((𐆁 + 0o5))
set_label(𐅻)
𐆉 += (0 - 0o2)
set_label(𐆊)
𐆋 = cast(char, (0o105 + (𐆉 * 0o3)))
𐅶 = 𐆋
𐆋 += 0o50
𐆋 += (0 - (0o17 * 𐆉))
𐅶 APPEND 𐆋
𐆋 += (0 - 0o6)
𐆋 += (0o16 * 𐆉)
𐅶 APPEND 𐆋
print(𐅶)