README

   1                                                               -*- org -*-
   2 Mes -- Maxwell Equations of Software
   3
   4 [[https://gitlab.com/janneke/mes][Mes]] aims to create full source bootstrapping for [[https://www.gnu.org/software/guix][GuixSD]] as part of the
   5 [[http://bootstrappable.org][bootstrappable builds]] effort.
   6
   7 It currently consists of a mutual self-hosting [close to Guile-]
   8 Scheme interpreter prototype in C and a Nyacc-based C compiler in
   9 [Guile] Scheme.  This C prototype will be rewritten in [[https://github.com/oriansj/stage0][stage0]] M1
  10 assembly (or possibly stage2 slow-LISP, or ...).
  11
  12 The Scheme interpreter prototype (mes.c) has a Garbage Collector, a
  13 library of loadable Scheme modules-- notably Dominique Boucher's [[https://github.com/schemeway/lalr-scm][LALR]],
  14 Pre-R6RS [[https://www.cs.indiana.edu/chezscheme/syntax-case/old-psyntax.html][portable syntax-case]] with R7RS ellipsis, Matt Wette's [[https://www.nongnu.org/nyacc][Nyacc]],
  15 Guile's [[https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/docs/master/guile.html/PEG-Parsing.html][PEG]] --and test suite just barely enough to support a simple
  16 REPL (repl.mes) and simple C-compiler MesCC (mescc.mes).
  17
  18 MesCC can compile a [[https://gitlab.com/janneke/tinycc][modified TinyCC]] that is close to being
  19 self-hosting.  A GNU Ccc-compiled tcc is [[https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/tinycc-devel/2017-05/msg00103.html][known]] to compile GCC.
  20
  21 Mes is inspired by The Maxwell Equations of Software: [[http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/LISP/book/LISP%2525201.5%252520Programmers%252520Manual.pdf][LISP-1.5]] -- John
  22 McCarthy page 13, GNU Guix's source/binary packaging transparency and
  23 Jeremiah Orians's stage0 ~300 byte self-hosting hex assembler.
  24
  25 [0] https://gitlab.com/janneke/mes
  26 [1] https://www.gnu.org/software/guix
  27 [2] http://bootstrappable.org
  28 [3] https://github.com/oriansj/stage0
  29 [4] https://github.com/schemeway/lalr-scm
  30 [5] https://www.cs.indiana.edu/chezscheme/syntax-case/old-psyntax.html
  31 [6] https://www.nongnu.org/nyacc
  32 [7] https://www.gnu.org/software/guile/docs/master/guile.html/PEG-Parsing.html
  33 [8] https://gitlab.com/janneke/tinycc
  34 [9] https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/tinycc-devel/2017-05/msg00103.html
  35 [10] http://www.softwarepreservation.org/projects/LISP/book/LISP%25201.5%2520Programmers%2520Manual.pdf
  36
  37 Mes is free software, it is distributed under the terms of the GNU
  38 General Public Licence version 3 or later.  See the file COPYING.
  39
  40 * Get it
  41
  42    git clone https://gitlab.com/janneke/mes
  43
  44 * Build it (see INSTALL for full instructions)
  45
  46    ./configure
  47    make all
  48    make check
  49
  50 * REPL it
  51
  52    scripts/repl.mes
  53
  54 * MesCC compiler
  55
  56    scripts/mescc.mes scaffold/main.c > a.out
  57