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authorEgor Tensin <Egor.Tensin@gmail.com>2016-05-22 01:27:05 +0300
committerEgor Tensin <Egor.Tensin@gmail.com>2016-05-22 01:27:05 +0300
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# Simple interpreter
-An interpreter of a simple artificial programming language written in Python 3.
+An interpreter of a simple (deficient, really) programming language.
Here you'll find a brief description of the language and the implementation.
-## Simple language
-
-This software is an interpreter of a relatively simple programming language
-designed by me.
+## The language
### Data types
-Simple language supports integer numbers, floating-point numbers and the
-Boolean data type.
+Integer numbers, floating-point numbers and boolean values are supported.
-Literal integer numbers are comprised of a sequence of digits.
-Please note that negative integer number literals are not supported just yet.
+Literal integer numbers are represented as sequences of digits.
+Negative integer number literals are not supported.
-Floating-point number literals follow a bit more complicated format, with
-scientific notation support and stuff.
-At the moment negative floating-point numbers literals are not supported
-either.
+Floating-point number literals follow a bit more complicated format with
+scientific notation support.
+Negative floating-point numbers literals are not supported.
-The Boolean data type has two literal values: `True` and `False`.
+Boolean values are represented as either `True` or `False`.
### Variables
-Named memory locations are called variables.
+Variables are named memory regions.
Numbers can be stored in memory by assigning them to variables using the
assignment operator `:=`.
A variable can be used anywhere a number can be used.
@@ -38,49 +33,49 @@ A variable can be used anywhere a number can be used.
### Arithmetic expressions
Numbers can be computed from complex arithmetic expressions.
-Simple language supports addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division
-with grouping using parentheses.
+Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with grouping using
+parentheses are supported.
An arithmetic expression can be used anywhere a number can be used.
microseconds := 1000000 * seconds;
### Input/output
-Simple language provides basic output facilities using the `print` statement.
+Basic output facilities are provided by the `print` statement.
print 60 * 3.14 / 180;
print days_per_year * 24;
-Only `print`ing numbers is supported at the moment.
-
-### Control flow
+Only numbers can be `print`ed.
-Simple language supports conditional control flow using the `if` operator.
-When executed, the `if` operator executes its body statement if it's condition
-evaluates to the true Boolean value.
-
- never_printed := 0;
- if (False)
- print never_printed;
+### Logical expressions
Boolean values can be computed from complex logical expressions.
-Simple language supports conjunction (`&&`) and disjunction (`||`) of logical
-expressions, as well as comparing them using the equality (`==`) and inequality
-(`!=`) operators.
-Arguably not the most useful feature at the moment, but I am working on it.
+The language supports the conjunction (`&&`) and disjunction (`||`) operators,
+as well as comparing two Boolean values using the equality (`==`) and
+inequality (`!=`) operators.
A logical expression can be used anywhere a Boolean value can be used.
if (True && False == False)
days := 366;
-Please note that the conditional operators `&&` and `||` have the same
-precedence right now.
+Please note that operators `&&` and `||` have the same precedence.
+
+### Control flow
+
+Control flow is supported using the conditional `if` statement.
+When executed, an `if` statement executes its body if its condition evaluates
+to `True`.
+
+ never_printed := 0;
+ if (False)
+ print never_printed;
-### Compound statement
+### Compound statements
A compound statement (or a block) is a sequence of statements grouped together
inside a pair of curly braces (`{` and `}`).
-When executed, a block executes its statements sequentially.
+When executed, a block executes the sequence of statements sequentially.
A block can be used anywhere a statement can be used.
if (True) {
@@ -92,10 +87,7 @@ A block can be used anywhere a statement can be used.
### Language grammar
-The language grammar written in the Extended Backus&#x2012;Naur Form (EBNF) (as
-described in [the corresponding Wikipedia article]
-(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Backus%E2%80%93Naur_Form))
-is as follows:
+The language grammar in the [Extended Backus-Naur Form] (EBNF) is as follows:
program = { statement } ;
@@ -147,10 +139,9 @@ is as follows:
| "False"
| "(" , logical_expression , ")" ;
-## Interpreter design
+[Extended Backus-Naur Form]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_Backus%E2%80%93Naur_Form
-This implementation follows the conventional interpreter design principles
-(more or less).
+## Design
### Lexer
@@ -158,16 +149,17 @@ The *lexer* represents the contents of a source file as a sequence of *tokens*.
Token examples include identifiers (like `x` and `foo`), literal values (either
numeric like `42` and `3.14` or Boolean like `True`), parentheses (`(` and
`)`), arithmetic operation signs (`+`, `*`), etc.
-The lexer is implemented in `src/lexer.py`.
+
+The lexer is implemented in "src/lexer.py".
### Parser
The *parser* builds a program tree according to the rules described in the
language grammar.
-Each tree node processes its children accordingly.
+Each tree node, when executed, processes its children accordingly.
For example, a node representing addition of two numbers must have exactly
two children.
-When executed, this node evaluates its children and adds the two values.
+When executed, such a node evaluates its children and adds the two values.
+
/ \
@@ -176,8 +168,8 @@ When executed, this node evaluates its children and adds the two values.
Each of the children in the example above might in turn be represented by a
complex subtree.
-For example the right-side operand of the addition might be a result of
-multiplicating two numbers.
+For example, the right-side operand of an addition might be a multiplication of
+two numbers.
+
/ \
@@ -188,9 +180,8 @@ multiplicating two numbers.
/ \
2 3
-The `if` statement also has two children (its condition and body), but executes
-its body only after making sure the condition evaluates to the true Boolean
-value.
+An `if` statement must also have two children (its condition and body), but
+executes its body only after making sure the condition evaluates to `True`.
if
/ \
@@ -203,16 +194,17 @@ value.
/ \
True False
-The parser is implemented in `src/parser.py`.
+The parser is implemented in "src/parser.py".
-## Usage
+## Prerequisites
-To use this software, you need to be able to run Python 3 scripts.
+* Python 3
+
+## Usage
-To execute a script written in Simple language, pass the path to the script
-to `src/parser.py`.
+To execute a script, pass the path to a file to "src/parser.py".
-You can also pass the path to a script to `src/lexer.py` to examine the tokens
+You can also pass the path to a script to "src/lexer.py" to examine the tokens
the script gets separated into.
## License