diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'src/utils/vm.H')
| -rw-r--r-- | src/utils/vm.H | 173 |
1 files changed, 97 insertions, 76 deletions
diff --git a/src/utils/vm.H b/src/utils/vm.H index 981c6bad..04e44849 100644 --- a/src/utils/vm.H +++ b/src/utils/vm.H @@ -55,29 +55,30 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { // that is the vast majority and most interesting values, have to // be stored in allocated objects and addresses of their container // objects used in place of the actual values. This is folklore - // in the communities of garbage collected language implementations. + // in the communities of garbage collected languages. + // // An unfortunate but widely held belief is that AXIOM-based // systems (and computer algebra systems in general) are // Lisp-based systems. Nothing could be further from the truth // for OpenAxiom. The type system is believed to support // erasure semantics, at least for values. // - // However,the current implementation being Lisp-based, it does - // unwittingly make use of some Lisp features that are not - // strictly necessary, but which would take a certain amount - // of effort to get rid of. Consequently, we must cope -- at least + // However the current implementation, being Lisp-based, + // unwittingly makes use of some Lisp features that are not + // strictly necessary. It would take a certain amount of effort + // to get rid of them. Consequently, we must cope -- at least // for now -- with the notion of uniform value representation and // use runtime predicates to descriminate between values. - // However, we do not want to carry an unduly expensive abstraction - // penalty for perfectly well behaved and well disciplined programs. - // Here are a few constraints: - // 1. Small integers should represent themselves, not allocated. - // Furthermore, the maximum range should be sought. + // On the other hand, we do not want to carry an unduly expensive + // abstraction penalty for perfectly well behaved and well + // disciplined programs. So, here are a few constraints: + // 1. Small integers should represent themselves -- not allocated. + // Furthermore, the maximum range should be sought where possible. // 2. Since we have to deal with characters, they should be - // directly represented. + // directly represented -- not allocated. // 3. List values and list manipulation should be efficient. // Ideally, a pair should not occupy more than what it - // takes to store two values. + // takes to store two values in a type-erasure semantics. // 4. Idealy, pointers to foreign objects (at least) should be // left unmolested. // @@ -91,43 +92,52 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { // -- we allocate the first cell in each cons-storage arena // on a 8-byte boundary // -- we use exactly 2 * sizeof(Value) to store a cons cell - // therefore realizing constraint (1) + // therefore realizing constraint (3) // then: - // each pointer to a cons cell will have its last 3 bits cleared. + // every pointer to a cons cell will have its last 3 bits cleared. // // Therefore, we can use the last 3 bits to tag a cons value, instead // of storing the tag inside the cons cell. we can't leave those // bits cleared for we would not be able to easily and cheaply - // distinguish a pointer to a cons cell from a pointer to other objects. + // distinguish a pointer to a cons cell from a pointer to other + // objects, in particular foreign objects. // // To meet constraint (1), we must logically use at least one bit // to distinguish a small integer from a pointer to a cons cell. - // The good news is that we need not need more than that if pointers + // The good news is that we need no more than that if pointers // to foreign pointers do not have the last bit set. Which is - // pretty much the case in practice as crystallized in assumption (a). + // the case with assumption (a). Furthermore, if we align all + // other internal data on 16 byte boundary, then we have 4 bits + // that we can use to categorize values. // Therefore we arrive at the first design: // I. the value representation of small integer always have the // the least significant bit set. All other bits are - // significant in representing small integers. + // significant in representing small integers. In other words, + // the last four bits of a small integer are 0bxxx1 + // // As a consequence, the last bit of all other values must be cleared. // - // Next, cons cell values: - // II. Cons cells are represented by their addresses with the - // last 3 bits set to 0b110. + // Next, + // II. All foreign pointers must have the last two bits cleared. + // In consequence, the last four bits of all foreign addresses + // follow the pattern 0bxx00. + // + // As a consequence, the second bit of a cons cell value must be set + // so that we can distinguish it from foreign pointers. + // + // III. Cons cells are represented by their addresses with the + // last 4 bits matching the pattern 0bx010. + // + // IV. All internal objects are allocated on 16-byte boundary. + // We set their last 4 bit to the pattern 0b0110. // - // III. Any allocated object obj shall saisfy sizeof obj quo 4 = 0. - // All allocated objects shall have alignment divisible by 4. - // In consequence, the last two bits of object addresses - // are cleared, i.e. 0b00. // Finally: - // IV. The representation of a character shall have the last two - // bits set to 0b10. + // V. The representation of a character shall have the last four + // bits set to 0b1110. // - // Note: These choices do not satisfy constraint 4. If we could - // restrict pointer to foreign objects to address aligned - // to multiple of 4 boundaries, then we can make different choices - // that represents foreign address directly. - // In the current design, foriegn addresses are allocated. + // Note: These choices do not fully satisfy constraint 4. This is + // because we restrict foreign pointers to address aligned + // to 4-byte boundaries. // ----------- @@ -137,26 +147,6 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { typedef uintptr_t Value; // ------------- - // -- Pointer -- - // ------------- - // Allocated objects are represented by their addresses. - using Memory::Pointer; - - const Value ptr_tag = 0x0; - - inline bool is_pointer(Value v) { - return (v & 0x3) == ptr_tag; - } - - inline Pointer to_pointer(Value v) { - return Pointer(v); - } - - inline Value from_pointer(Pointer p) { - return Value(p); - } - - // ------------- // -- Fixnum --- // ------------- // VM integers are divided into classes: small numbers, @@ -178,26 +168,24 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { return (Fixnum(i) << 1 ) | fix_tag; } - // --------------- - // -- Character -- - // --------------- - - // This datatype is prepared for Uncode characters even if - // we do not handle UCN characters. - typedef Value Character; + // ------------- + // -- Pointer -- + // ------------- + // Allocated objects are represented by their addresses. + using Memory::Pointer; - const Value char_tag = 0x2; + const Value ptr_tag = 0x0; - inline bool is_character(Value v) { - return (v & 0x3) == char_tag; + inline bool is_pointer(Value v) { + return (v & 0x3) == ptr_tag; } - inline Character to_character(Value v) { - return Character(v >> 2); + inline Pointer to_pointer(Value v) { + return Pointer(v); } - inline Value from_character(Character c) { - return (Value(c) << 2) | char_tag; + inline Value from_pointer(Pointer p) { + return Value(p); } // ---------- @@ -211,7 +199,7 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { typedef ConsCell* Pair; - const Value pair_tag = 0x6; + const Value pair_tag = 0x2; inline bool is_pair(Value v) { return (v & 0x7) == pair_tag; @@ -231,6 +219,48 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { return is_pair(v) ? to_pair(v) : 0; } + // ------------ + // -- Object -- + // ------------ + struct BasicObject; + typedef BasicObject* Object; + + const Value obj_tag = 0x6; + + inline bool is_object(Value v) { + return (v & 0xF) == obj_tag; + } + + inline Object to_object(Value v) { + return Object(v & ~0xF); + } + + inline Value from_object(Object* o) { + return Value(o) | obj_tag; + } + + // --------------- + // -- Character -- + // --------------- + + // This datatype is prepared for Uncode characters even if + // we do not handle UCN characters. + typedef Value Character; + + const Value char_tag = 0xE; + + inline bool is_character(Value v) { + return (v & 0xF) == char_tag; + } + + inline Character to_character(Value v) { + return Character(v >> 4); + } + + inline Value from_character(Character c) { + return (Value(c) << 4) | char_tag; + } + // -- // -- Builtin Operations // -- @@ -241,15 +271,6 @@ namespace OpenAxiom { typedef Value (*BinaryCode)(BasicContext*, Value, Value); typedef Value (*TernaryCode)(BasicContext*, Value, Value, Value); - // ------------ - // -- Object -- - // ------------ - template<typename T> - struct Object { - Value dict; - T data; - }; - // ------------------ // -- BasicContext -- // ------------------ |