tachyon#

a brainfuck interpreter written in rust.

warning!: my first rust project and my first interpreter. bad code everywhere. you have been warned!

features#

• standard 30,000 byte tape with configurable length, pre-filled with 0s.
• data pointer out-of-bounds behavior: error (crash on bounds violation, default) or wrap (wrap around).
• cell value out-of-bounds behavior: wrap (wrapping 8-bit, default) or error (crash on overflow/underflow).
• ascii i/o (default) and raw 8-bit numeric i/o for input and output.
• syntax diagnostics: catches unmatched brackets before execution.
• unit tests covering instructions, loops, nesting, out-of-bounds behaviors, and i/o modes.

building#

cargo build --release

usage#

./target/release/tachyon [OPTIONS] <PATH>

run a brainfuck script:

./target/release/tachyon path/to/your/script.bf

use wrapping data pointer and raw i/o:

./target/release/tachyon -d wrap -i raw -o raw script.bf

set a custom tape size of 100 cells:

./target/release/tachyon -l 100 script.bf

crash on cell overflow instead of wrapping:

./target/release/tachyon -c error script.bf

options#

roadmap#

features and milestones! nothing is guaranteed to happen. less of a roadmap and more a list of things i'd like to do

this is all pretty overkill but im using this project as a way to learn stuff

cli#

• argument parsing: possibly switch to clap for nicer cli experience
• behavior flags: overrides defaults in code (& possibly eventually in config?)
  • set data pointer & cell value behavior
  • set custom tape size
• 8-bit i/o: add 8-bit input/output option alongside ascii default
  • monomorphization: implement input/output strategy for minor optimization gains
• config file: set up per-project config file for input & output

out-of-bounds behaviors#

• data pointer behavior
  • error (default): crash when moving past tape boundaries
  • wrap: going out of bounds wraps around to start/beginning
• cell value behavior
  • wrap (default): 0 - 1 = 255
  • error: crash on overflow/underflow

better diagnostics#

• errors: switch to miette for richer error display with source snippets
• tracing: cli flag to print state of vm/tape after every instruction

visualization#

• real-time cell visualization: tui showing tape being adjusted and data pointer moving in real time at adjustable speed
• wasm: compile to wasm for browser-based frontend?

debugging#

• step debugger: REPL-style debugger with breakpoints, cell inspection, and instruction stepping

maintenance#

• comprehensive testing: for all instructions and out-of-bounds behaviors
• benchmarking: use criterion to track performance?