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apl-life-anno.fs
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apl-life-anno.fs
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#! /usr/bin/gforth
\ I love FORTH and hope to present reasons with this code.
\ The original idea was to implement Conway's Game of Life as a one-liner in APL executed in FORTH.
\ (APL is another weird-looking programming language). The goal is mostly reached, with few exceptions.
\ Unary negation symbol ¯ not implemented. APL tokens must be whitespace-separated, as in FORTH.
\ FORTH is a low-level language and has no type checking, structures, arrays, let alone higher-level
\ constructs. Instead, it provides a direct access to its interpreter and compiler. This comes to be
\ an extremely powerful tool. It allows us to quickly jump from raw bytes into a world of a problem
\ domain. The code below contains an implementation of
\ - arrays
\ - currying and closures
\ - higher-order functions for collections
\ - APL specific function application rules, such as pervasion
\ - APL to FORTH translator (up to extend required to execute Conway's Game of Life)
\ All of that is done in ~200 LOC and tooks < 2.5K words of memory.
\ For these who had never met FORTH before, "word" in FORTH stays for function and "cell" for machine
\ word. FORTH has no syntax restrictions: code is nothing but a stream of whitespace-separated words.
\ FORTH is interactive: the code below is not only a complete program but also a history of a
\ development session.
\ A coding style is affected by an intention to avoid stack manipulation words. Locals are mostly used
\ instead. Hope this might improve readability for people unfamiliar with FORTH.
\ This code is written in gforth and contains Unicode symbols.
\ References
\ Conway's Game of Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life
\ Conway's Game of Life in APL in Ruby https://zverok.github.io/blog/2020-05-16-ruby-as-apl.html
\ APL programming language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language)
\ John Scholes' Conway's Game of Life in APL https://aplwiki.com/wiki/John_Scholes%27_Conway%27s_Game_of_Life
\ online APL playground https://tryapl.org/
\ FORTH programming language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forth_(programming_language)
\ gforth docs https://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/forth/gforth/Docs-html/
cr ." Available free space on the dictionary: " unused . unused Constant unused0
cr ." Machine word size: " cell .
\ 1. Arrays
\ First we have to implement arrays. APL arrays are multi-dimensional and support nesting which is an
\ unrelated concept (a scalar is a 0-dimensional array, a vector is 1-dimensional, and matrix is
\ 2-dimensional, and a vector of vectors is not a matrix).
\ The main idea of the implementation provided below is the fact that array's shape is itself an array,
\ so any array can be represented as a reference to another array and a reference to raw data.
\ The FORTH word for dereferencing is "@" and for incrementing a pointer by one machine word is "cell+".
\ Hereafter non-indented and single-idented lines contain the main program, while double-idented lines
\ contain examples and tests explaining what's going on, and these can be omitted. We will write code
\ in tiny steps and test every line just next to it. Sometimes we will first try things in interpreter
\ mode and then wrap a code in a word definition.
: shape @ ;
: data cell+ @ ;
: first data @ ;
\ We have no function for array creation right now, but as the whole thing is a matter of convention,
\ we can create the first array manually. Anywhere in a memory, suppose at address PTR, we will put a
\ triplet [PTR; PTR+2; 1], and according to the definition above (the words "shape", "data" and
\ "first"), this triplet can be understood as a 1-dimensional array with a single element, the 1.
\ A triplet [1; PTR; PTR-1] would also do.
\ In the line below, there are "Create", "here", and "," some of a most frequently used FORTH words.
\ There is a memory area called Dictionary hosting FORTH words and other program data. The Dictionary
\ is organized as a stack, so is filled continuously and incrementally. "here" is a pointer to free
\ space on top of the Dictionary. "," (comma) writes a machine word from the data stack to the
\ Dictionary and increments value of "here". "Create" introduces a new word (whatever is to the right
\ of it) whose meaning is the value of "here" at the moment of the definition).
\ So the line below states the following:
\ Create [1] let the current value of "here" be called [1].
\ here put the value of "here" on the stack.
\ , write the value from the stack to "here"; increment "here".
\ here put the value of "here" on the stack (now "here" is [1] + 1 machine word).
\ cell+ increment the value on the stack by 1 machine word.
\ , write the value from the stack to "here"; increment "here".
\ 1 put 1 on the stack.
\ , write the value from the stack to "here".
\ Thus we have created the [PTR; PTR+2; 1] triplet and assign it a name, [1].
Create [1] here , here cell+ , 1 ,
\ We can immediately examine this array with our accessor words:
cr [1] . \ PTR (some integer value of a pointer)
cr [1] shape . \ PTR (shape of [1] is [1])
cr [1] data . \ PTR+2
cr [1] first . \ 1
\ Note the [1] is the only array whose shape is equal to the array itself, so it's naturally the only
\ choice for an array to be created first.
\ The very important property of an array is its size. It is not very clear what is "size" in a general
\ case but what we need first is a size of memory chunk to allocate for array items. A scalar requires
\ 1 memory cell, a vector as many cells as there are items, and a matrix a product of rows and columns.
\ Right now we have no functions to iterate over shape, so let's define "size" for the simplest case of
\ 1-dimensional arrays, like this:
: size shape first ;
\ FORTH allows us to redefine any word, and a new behavior hides an old one. But a words already
\ compiled still refer to the old implementation. In case we want not to hide but retroactively change
\ the meaning of a word, we have to declare at as "deferred", i.e. linked dynamically.
\ The definition of deferred "size" looks like this:
defer size
:noname shape first ;
is size
\ Here is a word to create new arrays at run-time:
: array { data shape -- a } here shape , data , ;
\ Without locals, this could be written as:
: array ( data shape -- a ) here -rot , , ;
\ Which is significantly shorter but not so explanatory.
\ We can try it with following line:
here 0 , [1] array Constant [0]
\ Here we have first allocated a single cell of memory and saved 0 here (with a phrase "here 0 ,",
\ which is readable as well as plain English); then we've provided the array shape, [1]; then called
\ the constructor "array" and assigned a name "[0]". It is a one-dimensional array containing a single
\ value, 0.
cr [0] . \ some pointer
cr [0] shape . \ PTR (the pointer to [1])
cr [0] first . \ 0
cr [0] size . \ 1
\ An empty array is even simplier, as it does not need allocated data so we can use 0 in place of data
\ pointer:
0 [0] array Constant []
cr [] . \ pointer to []
cr [] shape . \ pointer to [0]
cr [] size . \ 0
\ But it is more convenient to reuse the data pointer of [1], so our (still incomplete) definition
\ of "size" will work properly:
here 1 , [0] array Constant []
cr [] first . \ 1
\ Let's define some more convenient constructors.
\ Scalar is a zero-dimensional array (i.e., its shape is an empty vector):
: scalar { u -- a } here u , [] array ;
\ The following line creates a scalar with value "101":
101 scalar Constant tmp
cr tmp shape . \ pointer to []
cr tmp first . \ 101
cr tmp size . \ 1
\ Vector is a one-dimensional array. Its shape is a single-element vector. A vector constructor accepts
\ a pointer to a pre-allocated data area and a size. It creates a shape vector ("here u , [1] array")
\ and then calls "array":
: vector { data u -- a } data here u , [1] array array ;
\ To see it working, we have to manually allocate data here and store some values:
here 103 , 107 ,
\ And then we call a vector constructor (the value of "here" is already on the stack):
2 vector Constant tmp
cr tmp size . \ 2
cr tmp first . \ 103
cr tmp data cell+ @ . \ 107
\ Here is an utility word that allocates a data area for a given number of elements:
: new { u -- data u } here u cells allot u ;
\ Examine it like this:
5 new vector Constant tmp
cr tmp size . \ 5
cr tmp first . \ (some value from an unassigned memory cell)
\ The vector we've just created is ready but not populated, we can assign values with common memory
\ accessing words:
109 tmp data !
cr tmp first . \ 109
\ Now we can define how to iterate over items, that is, to implement the "for each" loop.
\ There is several loop words in FORTH, such as "DO", "?DO", "LOOP", "+LOOP", and "I", which can be
\ used like this:
cr 5 0 [DO] [i] . [LOOP] \ 0 1 2 3 4
cr 5 0 [?DO] [i] . 2 [+LOOP] \ 0 2 4
\ To iterate over our array items, we need to loop from data start to data end in one-machine-word
\ steps. Here is a word to get a data end:
: end { a -- addr } a data a size cells + ;
\ And here is a word to put on the stack both data end and data start, in this order:
: (for) { a -- and data } a end a data ;
\ Test it by creating two-element vector and definiting a printing function:
here 113 , 127 , 2 vector Constant tmp
: fn (for) ?DO i ? cell +LOOP ;
cr tmp fn \ 113 127
\ This is not very readable, and is error-prone since we can easily forget the word "cell" before
\ "+LOOP", which would break the pointer arithmetic. But we can easily enhance the language syntax:
: FOR POSTPONE (for) POSTPONE ?DO ; immediate
: EACH POSTPONE cell POSTPONE +LOOP ; immediate
\ And use it like this:
: .a FOR i ? EACH ;
cr tmp .a \ 113 127
\ What's going on here needs a more elaborate explanation. "immediate" words are words executed at
\ compile-time (contrary to words executed at run-time). The word "POSTPONE" says the following word
\ (e.g., "(for)") will not be normally executed when "FOR" executed but instead will be compiled into
\ the body of a word being defined during execution of "FOR", which is in our case ".a". So when
\ compiled the code of ".a" is exactly equivalent to this of "print". This can be seen with decompiler:
cr see fn \ : fn (some code follows)
cr see .a \ : .a (the same code)
\ You may see this as a sort of macro. With two lines of code, we've extended language syntax with
\ the new construction, "for each" loop working with our arrays. You may want to implement it in your
\ language.
\ Here is a word to populate an existing array from the stack:
: !a ( an .. a1 array -- ) FOR i ! EACH ;
\ And a word to create an array and populate it from the stack:
: >a ( an .. a1 u -- a ) new vector { a } a !a a ;
4 3 2 1 4 >a Constant 1_2_3_4
cr 1_2_3_4 .a \ 1 2 3 4
\ Note the reversed element order.
\ A word to create an array and fill it with single value:
: fill { w u -- a } u new vector { a } a FOR w i ! EACH a ;
cr 5 4 fill .a \ 5 5 5 5
\ Some not-that-pretty-printer supporting recursive/nested arrays:
: number? abs 32767 <= ;
: array? number? 0= ;
: print { a -- }
a array? IF ." [" a shape .a ." | " a FOR i @ recurse EACH ." ] " ELSE a . THEN ;
\ Here I assume our arrays will host only short ints and pointers to other arrays, and its ranges
\ do not overlap.
cr 131 print \ 131
cr 131 scalar print \ [| 131]
cr 131 1 >a print \ [1| 131]
cr 1_2_3_4 print \ [4| 1 2 3 4]
cr 4 3 2 2 >a 1 3 >a print \ [3| 1 [2| 2 3] 4]
\ Following functions perform partitioning/slicing, we will need it later.
\ Note the data is not copied here, but pointers only.
: before { a n -- a' } a data n vector ;
: after { a n -- a' } a data n cells + a size n - vector ;
: slice { a from count -- a' } a from after count before ;
cr 1_2_3_4 2 before .a \ 1 2
cr 1_2_3_4 2 after .a \ 3 4
cr 1_2_3_4 1 2 slice .a \ 2 3
\ 2. Currying and closures
\ There is nothing related to functional programming in FORTH. But as we know the FP is a powerful
\ paradigm we will implement some of its features here. Namely: currying, runtime function composition,
\ and closures.
\ Currying is implemented by binding together a function and its last argument.
\ Here is how such binding looks like if done at compile time:
: 10+ 10 + ;
cr see 10+ \ : 10+ 10 + ;
cr 9 10+ . \ 19
\ Basically, this is nothing but creating a new short function. The main point is that we want this
\ to happens at run-time, not at compile-time.
\ First, our run-time-created function should be unnamed, like this:
:noname 10 + ;
cr xt-see \ noname: 10 + ;
\ Second, the argument value and the function value has to be provided at run-time. Here we will
\ rewrite the previous definition, separating run-time-provided values from the rest of the function
\ body:
:noname [ 10 ] literal [ ' + compile, ] ;
cr xt-see \ noname: 10 + ;
\ The result is equivalent but the source looks differently. The words [ and ] switch the FORTH state
\ from compilation to interpretation and back. So the phrase above could be read like:
\ :noname start the definition of a new unnamed word
\ [ 10 ] at compile-time, put 10 on the stack
\ literal what is on the stack at compile-time gets compiled into
\ the unnamed word we are currently compiling
\ [ ' + at compile-time, put the function + on the stack
\ compile, at compile-time, compile what is on the stack
\ into the unnamed word we are currenly compiling
\ ] ...go back to compilation state
\ ; end of the word
\ As you can see with xt-see, this word is decompiled extacly as the previous one.
\ The word "'" (tick) is one of few so-called parsing words. It takes an input not from the data stack
\ but from the input stream. In the code above, the tick consumes the following "+" from the input
\ stream, so instead of execute "+", the interpreter put reference to "+" on the stack.
\ Values 10 and ' + could be moved out to some variables:
10 Value w
' + Value xt
:noname [ w ] literal [ xt compile, ] ;
cr xt-see \ noname: 10 +
\ And the last step is to make it all to be performed at run-time. Keep in mind the run-time
\ of "curry" is a compile-time of its derived unnamed word.
: curry { w xt -- xt' }
:noname w POSTPONE literal xt compile, POSTPONE ;
;
\ What was previously done at compile-time ("w", "xt compile,") now is done at run-time, so not
\ enclosed in [ ]. What must be done at run-time of the derived unnamed word is POSTPONEd.
w xt curry
cr xt-see \ noname: 10 +
11 ' - curry
cr xt-see \ noname: 11 -
\ It works!
\ As our definition of "curry" is somewhat long, we will split into 3 words:
: literal, ( w -- ) POSTPONE literal ;
: compile-curried, { w xt -- } w literal, xt compile, ;
: curry { w xt -- xt' } :noname w xt compile-curried, POSTPONE ; ;
\ In the same way we implement a function composition:
: compose { xt2 xt1 -- xt' } :noname xt1 compile, xt2 compile, POSTPONE ; ;
\ Test it by composing the increment `1+` with the output '.'.
cr ' . ' 1+ compose Constant tmp
cr tmp xt-see \ noname : 1+ . ;
cr 211 tmp execute \ 212
\ In case we need to curry not the last but second-from-last argument, we can flip function arguments
\ by composing it with the word "swap", and then bind the last argument as before:
: flip ( xt -- xt' ) ['] swap compose ;
\ Let's check it with the assymetrical two-argument function "divide":
\ Divide by 10:
10 ' / curry Constant /10
cr 30 /10 execute . \ 3
\ Divide 10 by:
10 ' / flip curry Constant 10/
cr 5 10/ execute . \ 2
\ Closures bind a function to a variable. As we don't use variables, we will use pointers, i.e. bind
\ function directly to a memory cell. A bound function is an unnamed function which first reads a value
\ from the cell, then executes a body of the target function, then writes a value back into the cell.
: bind-addr { addr xt -- xt' }
:noname
addr ['] @ compile-curried, xt compile, addr ['] ! compile-curried,
POSTPONE ; ;
: bind { w xt -- xt' } here w , xt bind-addr ;
\ "bind-addr" binds function to a provided memory cell.
\ "bind" allocates a memory cell and writes an initial value here, then bounds.
\ In the example below, we create a cell with a value "223" in it, then bind a function "1+" to it.
\ The new function, referenced by "xt", will increment the value in the cell every time it is called.
Create tmp 223 ,
tmp ' 1+ bind-addr Constant xt
cr tmp ? \ 223
cr xt execute tmp ? \ 224
cr xt execute tmp ? \ 225
\ Note: implemented this way, closures require a function to left on top of the stack a value
\ semantically equivalent to a value on top of the stack at function start, i.e. the last argument
\ value. In the example above, binding works as expected because "1+" has the required stack effect
\ ( w -- w ). It will also work with "+":
tmp ' + bind-addr Constant xt
cr 100 xt execute tmp ? \ 325
cr 200 xt execute tmp ? \ 525
\ Words which don't follow this pattern must be wrapped accordingly. The "." word which is ( w -- )
\ need to be wrapped like this:
: fn ( w -- w ) dup . ;
tmp ' fn bind-addr Constant xt
cr xt execute \ 525
\ -- end of note.
\ 3. Higher-order collection functions
\ Now let's implement collection functions such as map. We already have a way to iterate over
\ a collection (the for each loop), but this seems to be not enough, as some functions have to iterate
\ over two or more collections simultaneously. We will implement another well-known solution called
\ an iterator. Actually, the iterator's functionaly overlaps with this of the for each loop, so we
\ would not need the for each if we have full-scale iterators. But we will implement only very basic
\ iterators without any range checkings, and rely on loops for a counting.
\ A simple iterator is a pointer that increases its value every time it is read.
\ The reading word is "@", the writing is "!", and the pointer increment is "cell+". Here we define
\ words for "read and increment pointer" and "write and increment pointer":
: !+ { n addr -- addr' } n addr ! addr cell+ ;
: @+ { addr -- n addr' } addr @ addr cell+ ;
\ (By the way, it can be written much simpler without locals, but stack manipulation words make code
\ look somewhat creepy, or at least cryptic:
: !+ tuck ! cell+ ;
: @+ dup @ swap cell+ ;
\ Try it with the following code. Here we allocate two memory cells with values 101 and 103 and create
\ a pointer "tmp" to the first. After the call to "107 tmp !+" the value 107 is written over the 101,
\ and the incremented value of the pointer is left on the stack. After the next call, "109 swap !+",
\ the value 109 is written over the 103.
Create tmp 101 , 103 ,
cr tmp ? tmp cell+ ? \ 101 103
cr tmp . \ some ptr
107 tmp !+
cr dup . \ ptr to next cell
109 swap !+
cr . \ ptr to yet next cell
cr tmp ? tmp cell+ ? \ 107 109
\ The iterator is made of "!+" or "@+" bound with a pointer, and the initial pointer value is the data
\ pointer of the target array:
1_2_3_4 data ' @+ bind Constant tmp
cr tmp execute . \ 1
cr tmp execute . \ 2
cr tmp execute . \ 3
: iterator ( a -- xt' ) data ['] @+ bind ;
: inserter ( a -- xt' ) data ['] !+ bind ;
\ As we need something with counter to provide range checking, we'll wrap the for each loop into
\ a functional-style iteration: let the word "iter" accept a function and an array and apply
\ the function to every item:
: iter { xt a -- } a FOR i @ xt execute EACH ;
cr ' . 1_2_3_4 iter \ 1 2 3 4
\ We could define a "clone" function like this:
: clone { a -- a' }
a size new vector { a' }
a' inserter
a iter
a' ;
cr 1_2_3_4 clone .a \ 1 2 3 4
\ Since many of collection functions we need (map, zip, product...) follow the pattern
\ "create array - create inserter - do something - return newly created array", we will extract
\ the logic into a word:
: construct { u -- a' xt } u new vector { a' } a' a' inserter ;
\ The sequence "{ a' } a' a'" looks especially silly, as it just duplicates a value on the stack, so
\ with your permission I'm going to use one of stack manipulation words, "DUP":
: construct ( u -- a' xt) new vector dup inserter ;
\ Finally, in the definition of the "clone" above, the resulting array is always a vector, while
\ the function input can have some other shape.
\ The word to change a shape of an existing array is trivial:
: shape! ( shape a -- ) ! ;
\ But it is more suitable for our needs to left the array on the stack:
: shape! { a shape -- a } shape a ! a ;
\ Or without locals:
: shape! ( a shape -- a) over ! ;
\ The word to copy shape from one array to another can looks like this:
: shape-as ( a other -- a ) shape shape! ;
\ So there are some basic collection functions.
: map { a xt -- a' } a size construct xt compose a iter a shape-as ;
: zip { al ar xt -- a' }
al size construct xt compose al iterator compose ar iter al shape-as ;
: inject { a xt zero -- w } here { accum } zero , accum xt bind-addr a iter accum @ ;
: fold { a xt -- w } a 1 after xt a first inject ;
: contains { a w -- f } a w ['] = curry map ['] or false inject ;
\ Any function could be tested immediately:
cr 1_2_3_4 ' 1+ map .a \ 2 3 4 5
cr 1_2_3_4 1_2_3_4 ' + zip .a \ 2 4 6 8
cr 1_2_3_4 ' + 10 inject . \ 20
cr 1_2_3_4 ' + fold . \ 10
cr 1_2_3_4 2 contains . \ -1
cr 1_2_3_4 5 contains . \ 0
\ Now we can provide the correct implementation for "size". Note we use "inject" and not "fold" because
\ a shape of a scalar is an empty vector but its size is defined as 1.
cr 2 3 2 >a ' * 1 inject . \ 6
\ Also, we have to protect it from infinite recursion on [1]:
:noname { a -- u } a [1] = IF 1 ELSE a shape ['] * 1 inject THEN ; is size
\ Check it:
cr [1] size . \ 1
cr 1_2_3_4 size . \ 4
6 5 4 3 2 1 6 >a 3 2 2 >a shape! Constant _m2x3
cr _m2x3 size . \ 6
cr [] size . \ 0
cr 1 [] array size . \ 1
\ Note items of nested arrays doesn't count, as expected:
cr 1_2_3_4 1_2_3_4 2 >a size . \ 2
\ Some more collection functions, implemented just for purpose of Game of Life.
\ "flat" accepts a homogeneous vector of vectors, and returns a new vector:
: flat { a -- a' } a ['] size map ['] + fold construct ['] iter flip curry a iter ;
cr 1_2_3_4 1_2_3_4 2 >a flat print \ [8| 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4]
\ "product" accepts two vectors and returns a matrix:
: (product) { w xt al -- } w xt curry al iter ;
: product { al ar xt -- a' }
al size ar size * construct
xt compose al ['] (product) curry curry ar iter
al size ar size 2 >a shape! ;
cr 1_2_3_4 20 10 2 >a ' + product print \ [2 4| 11 12 13 14 21 22 23 24]
cr 20 10 2 >a 1_2_3_4 ' + product print \ [4 2| 11 21 12 22 13 23 14 24]
\ "rotate" rotates element of a vector:
: rotate { a offset -- a' } offset a size mod { n } a n before a n after 2 >a flat ;
cr 1_2_3_4 1 rotate .a \ 2 3 4 1
cr 1_2_3_4 -1 rotate .a \ 4 1 2 3
\ "integers" is a constructor that creates a sequence from 0 to u-1:
: integers { u -- a } u construct { xt } u 0 ?DO i xt execute LOOP ;
cr 4 integers .a \ 0 1 2 3
\ "rows" accepts a matrix and returns a vector of vectors:
: second data cell+ @ ;
: height shape first ;
: width shape second ;
: rows { a -- a' }
a height integers a width ['] * curry map
a a width ['] slice curry flip curry map ;
cr _m2x3 print \ [2 3| 1 2 3 4 5 6]
cr _m2x3 rows print \ [2| [3| 1 2 3 ] [3| 4 5 6]]
\ 4. APL specific functions
\ Here we get closer to the APL world. In APL, the array is a basic object. Any numeric value is
\ a scalar an therefore an array (of rank 0). Every item of every array, unless it is a scalar
\ containing a numeric value, is also an array. This is not true in our model. Our arrays can contain
\ not only arrays (including scalars) but also naked numeric values, like this:
cr 1_2_3_4 print \ [4| 1 2 3 4]
\ While the array-only model would represent the same value as follows:
cr 1_2_3_4 ' scalar map print \ [4| [| 1] [| 2] [| 3] [| 4]]
\ Here we update some array functions to work properly with plain numbers.
: size { a -- u } a array? IF a size ELSE 1 THEN ;
: shape { a -- a' } a array? IF a shape ELSE [] THEN ;
\ According to APL rules, we can wrap any array into a scalar, but a number wrapped in a scalar is
\ equal to the number itself.
: wrap { a -- a' } a array? IF a scalar ELSE a THEN ;
: unwrap { a -- a' } a array? IF a first ELSE a THEN ;
\ Here are definitions for basic array properties "rank" and "depth":
: rank shape shape first ;
: 'recurse latestxt literal, ; immediate
: depth { a -- a' } a array? IF a 'recurse map ['] max 0 inject 1+ ELSE 0 THEN ;
: scalar? rank 0= ;
cr 1 wrap print \ 1
cr [1] wrap print \ [| [1| 1]]
cr 1 unwrap print \ 1
cr 1 scalar unwrap print \ 1
cr 1 rank . \ 0
cr [1] scalar rank . \ 0
cr [1] rank . \ 1
cr _m2x3 rank . \ 2
cr 1 depth . \ 0
cr [1] depth . \ 1
cr _m2x3 depth . \ 1
cr [1] scalar depth . \ 2
cr [1] scalar scalar depth . \ 3
\ Conversion from an arbitrary-shaped array into a 1-dimensional vector:
: ravel { a -- a' } a data a size vector ;
\ One of APL features important for our task is the pervasive function application. If there is
\ a function defined on scalars, such as +, it can be applied to arrays, and its behavior is
\ to traverse thru array elements and apply to each.
\ First, we implement the pervasive application of unary function:
: uperv ( a xt -- a' ) over number? IF execute ELSE 'recurse curry map THEN ;
cr 1 ' 1+ uperv print \ 2
cr [1] ' 1+ uperv print \ [1| 2]
cr 1_2_3_4 ' 1+ uperv print \ [4| 2 3 4 5]
4 3 2 2 >a 1 3 >a Constant tmp
cr tmp ' 1+ uperv print \ [3| 2 [2| 3 4] 5]
\ The binary pervasive application is a bit more complicated. It both arguments are arrays,
\ the function is applied to corresponding pairs (as "zip"). If one argument is an array and another
\ is a scalar, the scalar is "extended" as if it is an array of a required size. In the our case we
\ don't have to create a new array representing this "extended" scalar but will curry the function
\ with the scalar and then "map" over the array.
\ The implementation going to take more than one word and contain a mutual recursion, so "defer":
defer perv
\ If both arguments are numbers,
: both-numbers? { al ar -- f } al number? ar number? and ;
\ then simply "execute", and this is our first runnable version of "perv":
:noname { al ar xt -- a' }
al ar both-numbers? IF al ar xt execute EXIT THEN
s" not implemented yet" exception throw ;
is perv
cr 1 2 ' + perv print \ 3
\ If both arguments can be iterated over,
: both-iterable? { al ar -- f } al array? ar array? and al rank ar rank = and ;
\ then zip:
: pairwise ( al ar xt -- a' ) ['] perv curry zip ;
\ Update the definition of "perv" to test it:
:noname { al ar xt -- a' }
al ar both-numbers? IF al ar xt execute EXIT THEN
al ar both-iterable? IF al ar xt pairwise EXIT THEN
s" not implemented yet" exception throw ;
is perv
cr 1_2_3_4 1_2_3_4 ' + perv print \ [4| 2 4 6 8]
\ If the right argument is a scalar and the left is iterable,
: left-iterable? { al ar -- f } al array? ar scalar? and ;
\ then curry xt with the scalar and then map over the array:
: extend { al ar xt -- a' } al ar unwrap xt ['] perv curry curry map ;
\ Update the "perv":
:noname { al ar xt -- a' }
al ar both-numbers? IF al ar xt execute EXIT THEN
al ar both-iterable? IF al ar xt pairwise EXIT THEN
al ar left-iterable? IF al ar xt extend EXIT THEN
s" not implemented yet" exception throw ;
is perv
cr 1_2_3_4 4 ' + perv print \ [4| 5 6 7 8]
\ Finally, if the left argument is a scalar and the right is iterable, just swap the arguments and flip
\ the "xt", then fall to "extend" as above.
\ The complete code follows:
:noname { al ar xt -- a' }
al ar both-numbers? IF al ar xt execute EXIT THEN
al ar both-iterable? IF al ar xt pairwise EXIT THEN
al ar left-iterable? 0= IF ar al xt flip ELSE al ar xt THEN extend ;
is perv
\ Examine its behavior:
cr 1 2 ' + perv print \ 3
cr 1 1_2_3_4 ' + perv print \ [4| 2 3 4 5]
cr 1 1_2_3_4 wrap ' + perv print \ [| [4| 2 3 4 5]]
cr [1] 1_2_3_4 wrap ' + perv print \ [1| [4| 2 3 4 5]]
cr 2 1 2 >a 1_2_3_4 wrap ' + perv print \ [2| [4| 2 3 4 5] [4| 3 4 5 6]]
cr 1_2_3_4 1_2_3_4 ' + perv print \ [4| 2 4 6 8]
cr 1_2_3_4 1_2_3_4 wrap ' + perv print \ [4| [4| 2 3 4 5] [4| 3 4 5 6] [4| 4 5 6 7] [4| 5 6 7 8]]
cr [1] 2 ' + perv print \ [1| 3]
cr 2 [1] ' + perv print \ [1| 3]
cr [1] [1] ' + perv print \ [1| 2]
cr 2 1 2 >a 1 ' + perv print \ [2| 2 3]
cr 2 1 2 >a 4 3 2 >a ' + perv print \ [2| 4 6]
cr 2 1 2 >a 4 3 2 >a wrap ' + perv print \ [2| [2| 4 5] [2| 5 6]]
cr 2 1 2 >a wrap 4 3 2 >a wrap ' + perv print \ [| [2| 4 6]]
cr 2 1 2 >a wrap 4 3 2 >a wrap wrap ' + perv print \ [| [2| [2| 4 5] [2| 5 6]]]
cr 2 1 2 >a wrap 1 ' + perv print \ [| [2| 2 3]]
cr 2 1 2 >a wrap wrap 1 ' + perv print \ [| [| [2| 2 3]]]
cr 2 1 2 >a 4 3 2 >a wrap wrap ' + perv print \ [2| [| [2| 4 5]] [| [2| 5 6]]]
\ and so on.
\ Finally, to simplify calls, we can curry the last argument of "perv":
: perv-+ ['] + perv ;
cr 1 2 perv-+ print \ 3
cr [1] [1] perv-+ print \ [1| 2]
\ Some other functions we need pervasive:
: perv-and ['] and perv ;
: perv-or ['] or perv ;
: perv-* ['] * perv ;
\ The test for equality returns 0|1 in APL but 0|-1 in FORTH, so we have to modify it first:
: apl-= = 1 and ;
: perv-= ['] apl-= perv ;
\ Some more trivial APL array functions:
: hrotate { a u -- a' } a rows u ['] rotate curry map flat a shape-as ;
: vrotate { a u -- a' } a rows u rotate flat a shape-as ;
: reduce ( a xt -- a' ) fold wrap ;
: hreduce { a xt -- a' } a rows xt ['] reduce curry map ;
: vreduce { a xt -- a' } a rows xt fold ;
: vector? rank 1 = ;
: hrotate { a u -- a' } a u a vector? IF rotate ELSE hrotate THEN ;
: hreduce { a xt -- a' } a xt a vector? IF reduce ELSE hreduce THEN ;
\ The simplified version of the inner product:
: inner-product { * + -- a' } * zip + reduce ;
\ The generic inner/outer product whose behavior depends on the value of a right-hand function:
: apl-product { al * + ar -- }
+ ['] noop = IF al ar * product ELSE al ar * + inner-product THEN ;
cr _m2x3 ' perv-+ hreduce print \ [2 |6 15 ]
cr _m2x3 ' perv-+ vreduce print \ [3 |5 7 9 ]
2 1 2 >a Constant _v12
4 3 2 >a Constant _v34
cr _v12 ' perv-+ reduce print \ 3
cr _v12 _v34 ' perv-+ execute print \ [2| 4 6 ]
cr _v12 _v34 2 >a ' perv-+ reduce print \ [| [2| 4 6 ] ]
\ At this point we are very close to the Game of Life itself, let's prepare the grid and nice output:
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0
0 1 1 1 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 36 >a Constant grid
6 6 2 >a grid !
\ This configuration is called a "glider".
: show { a -- }
a array? 0= IF a . EXIT THEN
a scalar? IF a unwrap recurse EXIT THEN
a vector? IF a FOR i @ recurse EACH EXIT THEN
'recurse ['] cr compose a rows iter ;
\ 5. APL to FORTH translator
\ Our final part is a translator for the APL syntax. We want to convert an input string
\ "↑ 1 ⍵ ∨ . ∧ 3 4 = + / , -1 0 1 ∘ . ⊖ -1 0 1 ∘ . ⌽ ⊂ ⍵"
\ into a FORTH code equivalent to following:
grid
wrap
-1 0 1 3 >a ' hrotate product
-1 0 1 3 >a ' vrotate product
ravel
' perv-+ reduce
3 4 2 >a perv-=
1 grid 2 >a ' perv-and ' perv-or inner-product
first
\ This code performs a single step of Game of Life, and
show
\ shows a second stage of a glider evolution.
\ There is little job to be done during the translation phase. We have to change the execution order
\ from APL (right-to-left with infix functions and operators) into FORTH (left-to-right with postfix
\ functions). Also, we need to append array size to every array literal. -1 0 1 in APL is represented
\ as 1 0 -1 3 in our program.
\ The translator work is two-phase. First, it tokenizes the input string: words are consumed from left
\ to right and every word put a token on the stack. Second, it compiles the token sequence starting
\ from the top, emitting a FORTH code for every token. For infix functions/operators, the translator
\ will look ahead for one or two lexemes.
\ We will represent most tokens with a pair {token value, token class}. The token value is a function
\ implementing the operation and token class is a function that compiles the operation into a FORTH
\ code. E.g.,
: ⍵ ['] @local0 ['] compile, ;
\ So the omega (stays for a right operand in APL) is a token, its value is "@local0" (the FORTH word
\ to access an argument of a word with single local), and its class is "compile,". Being executed,
\ the class will compile token value into the current definition:
: _test_dup { _ } [ ⍵ execute ⍵ execute ] ;
cr see _test_dup \ : _test_dup >l @local0 @local0 lp+ ;
cr 3 _test_dup . . \ 3 3
\ The token representing number is the number itself, see "number?" above.
\ Below is the core translator function.
\ If a token is a number, compile it into a current word as a literal.
\ Otherwise, execute the token class and let it do what it wants.
: continue ( token -- ) dup number? IF literal, ELSE execute THEN ;
\ Apart from numbers, we'll define the following token classes:
\ function
\ dyadic-op
\ monadic-op
\ open ), an opening parenthesis, start of a sub-expression
\ close (, a closing parenthesis, end of a sub-expression
\ compile, special symbols directly mapped to FORTH, such as identifier ⍵
\ Let's implement the abovementioned "-1 0 1" -> "1 0 -1 3" conversion.
\ The definition of syntax is often recursive, so define a placeholder for mutually-recursive functions
\ below:
defer open
\ What considered to be a "value" is a number, or a subexpression, or an identifier:
: subexpression? ['] open = ;
: identifier? ['] compile, = ;
: value? { t -- f } t number? t subexpression? or t identifier? or ;
\ A strand is a sequence of values:
: strand ( .. -- u ) 0 BEGIN { t cnt } t value? WHILE t continue cnt 1+ REPEAT t cnt ;
\ Here we iterate over values, incrementing a counter in progress. Examine it:
Create mark
: _t [ mark 5 4 3 2 1 strand ] literal [ drop ] ;
cr see _t \ : _t 1 2 3 4 5 5 ;
\ Here, "5 4 3 2 1 strand" compiled into "1 2 3 4 5 5" (what is sufficient for our array creation).
\ The "[ drop ]" in the end is required because the value of "mark" was left on the stack and we need
\ to throw it away before the end of the definition.
\ To complete the array creation, we have to add the call to array constructor, ">a":
: value strand { size } size 1 > IF size ['] >a compile-curried, THEN ;
\ Check it works:
: _t [ mark 5 4 3 2 1 value drop ] ;
cr see _t \ : _t 1 2 3 4 5 5 >a ;
: _t [ mark 1 value drop ] ;
cr see _t \ : _t 1 ;
: _t [ mark value drop ] ;
cr see _t \ : _t ;
\ The multiple-element array had been wrapped as an array creation. The single number interpreted
\ as a scalar. An empty strand emits nothing.
\ Below is the rest of the supported token classes. Note we have to differ between function references
\ (tokens left and right from operator symbol) and function applications (all other cases). For
\ function references, we simply compile the reference into the current word:
: function-ref { t -- } literal, ;
\ For an operator, we read the next function-ref (one to the left from an operator), then a value
\ (which may be empty in case of monadic operator), then we "compile," an operator (the "xt"), then
\ we continue:
: operator { xt -- } function-ref value xt compile, continue ;
: dyadic-op operator ;
: monadic-op operator ;
\ For a function, we check if there is a dyadic operator to the left, and then either compile the
\ reference ("literal,"), or read the next value and then compile an application ("compile,"), and
\ then continue:
: function { t xt -- }
t ['] dyadic-op = IF t xt literal, ELSE t value xt compile, THEN continue ;
\ Note: here we assume all functions are either unary or binary (APL monadic or dyadic) which is
\ not true in APL. Information about the arity of any given call is lost precisely here.
\ An opening parenthesis (an expression) is a value and then optional anything:
:noname value continue ; is open
\ A closing parenthesis is a no-op.
: close ;
\ Now the fragment can be tested as a whole; in the following example, we put on the stack the list
\ of tokens: "close", "1", "function +", "2", "open", and then call "continue" to initiate
\ the compilation:
: _t [ ' close 1 ' + ' function 2 ' open continue ] ;
cr see _t \ _t : 2 1 + ;
\ As effect of "open" is to "continue", we need no explicit call the latter:
: _t [ ' close 1 2 3 4 open ] ;
cr see _t \ _t : 4 3 2 1 4 >a ;
\ We're almost there, now let's define APL symbols for tokens. We have already defined ⍵, others are
\ very similar, e.g. there is a ⊂ which is a "wrap" function:
: ⊂ ['] wrap ['] function ;
\ To avoid repetitions, we create a new word to define such tokens:
: apl: { xt -- } : xt literal, ['] function literal, POSTPONE ; ;
\ We can use it as follows:
' size apl: ≢
: _t [ ' close ≢ 1 2 3 4 open ] ;
cr see _t \ _t : 4 3 2 1 4 >a size ;
cr _t . \ 4
\ (Really, APL ≢ is not "size").
\ We don't want our APL symbols to hide useful FORTH words, so let them live in its own namespace:
wordlist Constant apl
\ The phrase above just creates a new namespace but does not "opens" it. In FORTH there are separated
\ concept of "current" wordlist (the namespace to where newly created words go) and "search order"
\ (the namespace sequence to perform word search). The current wordlist accessed/changed with
\ "get-current" and "set-current", the search order with ">order" and "previous".
\ So first we'll save the default current wordlist:
get-current
\ And then set the current wordlist to be "apl":
apl set-current
\ And now define APL symbols.
\ Symbols for functions are:
' first apl: ↑ ' perv-or apl: ∨ ' perv-and apl: ∧
' perv-= apl: = ' perv-+ apl: + ' ravel apl: ,
' noop apl: ∘ ' vrotate apl: ⊖ ' hrotate apl: ⌽
' wrap apl: ⊂ ' perv-* apl: × ' size apl: ≢
\ Symbols for operators:
: / ['] hreduce ['] monadic-op ;
: . ['] apl-product ['] dyadic-op ;
\ And the parenthesis, most simple:
' close Constant (
' open Constant )
\ And switch back to the default wordlist:
set-current
\ Now, in the beginning of an APL section, we will add the apl wordlist to the search order, and in
\ the end of section will drop it with "previous":
: _t [ apl >order ( -1 0 1 ∘ . ⌽ ⊂ 0 1 0 ) continue previous ] ;
cr _t print \ [3 1 |[3 |0 0 1 ] [3 |0 1 0 ] [3 |1 0 0 ] ]
\ In the code above, starting from "apl >order" the words "(", ")" and "." (and others) have APL
\ meaning, and after "previous" the FORTH meaning restored. Both APL and FORTH parts of the function
\ compiled into FORTH code; FORTH part by FORTH rules, APL part by APL rules.
\ As all our APL-syntax function will have the same prefix and postfix, make it a words:
: ←{ apl >order ['] close POSTPONE [ ; immediate
: } open previous ] ; immediate
: _t ←{ -1 0 1 ∘ . ⌽ ⊂ 0 1 0 } ;
cr _t print \ [3 1 |[3 |0 0 1 ] [3 |0 1 0 ] [3 |1 0 0 ] ]
\ Take a moment to decompile the function and look at its FORTH code:
cr see _t
\ (two big integers here are pointers to "rotate" and "noop").
\ So, naturally we've translated APL into FORTH.
\ Playground
\ Please note an APL wordlist is just an ordinary FORTH wordlist, so we can extend it incrementally
\ as we define new functions.
\ Just to be sure every APL word will go to the apl wordlist, let's add a wordlist switching into
\ the definition of "apl:"
: apl: ( xt "name" -- ) { xt } get-current apl set-current xt apl: set-current ;
\ Let's do some experiments, probably memory-consuming, so mark a memory area to be thrown away later:
marker gc
\ Some examples from tryapl.org.
\ The pervasive behavior of addition:
: _t ←{ 4 2 3 + 8 5 7 } ;
cr _t print \ [3 |12 7 10 ]
\ To implement "fac", we first need to implement "iota". We have "integers" which creates integers
\ from 0 to n-1 but iota must create integers from 1 to n:
: iota integers 1 ['] + curry map ;
cr 4 iota .a \ 1 2 3 4
\ Alternatively, we could implement "iota" in APL:
' integers apl: integers
: iota ←{ 1 + integers } ;
' iota apl: ⍳
: fac { _ } ←{ × / ⍳ ⍵ } ;
cr 5 fac print \ 120
\ The ugly thing above is "{ _ }". This is required to make function argument accessible thru locals.
\ Of course this can be automated but a chase for perfection would never ends.
\ To implement "avg", we need a division with correct argument order:
:noname swap / ;
\ Make it pervasive:
' perv curry
\ Make it available in APL:
apl: ÷
: avg { _ } ←{ ( + / ⍵ ) ÷ ≢ ⍵ } ;
cr 40 30 20 10 4 >a avg print \ 25
\ To implement the frequency counter, we need a pseudorandom number generator:
variable (rnd)
utime drop (rnd) !
: rnd (rnd) @ dup 13 lshift xor dup 17 rshift xor dup dup 5 lshift xor (rnd) ! ;
cr rnd . rnd . rnd . \ (3 pseudorandom numbers)
\ A word to return a pseudorandom in range:
:noname ( n -- n ) rnd swap mod 1+ ;
\ Make it pervasive:
' uperv curry
\ Make it available in APL:
apl: ?
\ APL rho stays for shape, but in this specific example the constructor "fill" will do:
' fill apl: ⍴
: dices ←{ + / ( ⍳ 6 ) ∘ . = ? 1000 ⍴ 6 } ;
cr dices print \ [6| (6 numbers, totals to 1000)]
gc
\ The Game of Life
: life { _ } ←{ ↑ 1 ⍵ ∨ . ∧ 3 4 = + / , -1 0 1 ∘ . ⊖ -1 0 1 ∘ . ⌽ ⊂ ⍵ } ;
cr ." Memory used by code: " unused0 unused - cell / . ." words"
marker gc
cr ." The glider:" grid show
cr ." The glider after 4 steps:" grid life life life life show
cr ." Free space on dictionary after a run: " unused .
gc
cr ." Free space on dictionary after gc: " unused .
bye
\ apl-life-anno.fs, Conway's Game of Life in APL in FORTH
\ Copyright (c) 2020 Alexander Serkov
\ This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
\ the GNU General Public License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
\ This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
\ without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
\ See the GNU General Public License for more details.