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Buzz Assembly Language Specification

Assembly Commands

The Buzz Virtual Machine (BVM) is a stack machine that works with a custom assembly language. The instruction set is composed of 46 elements. Each command can be used either by writing Buzz Assembly code directly (in a .basm file); most of them, have a corresponding C-function that can be used when integrating Buzz with other software.

The table below reports both the plain assembly command and the corresponding C function, along with a brief description of the effect of a command. In the description, stack(N) stands for the N-th element on the stack. The stack-top element is stack(1); the element beneath it is stack(2), and so on. If the stack contains K elements, the bottom element is stack(K).

Command C function Description
nop No operation
done buzzvm_done(VM) Ends the execution
pushnil buzzvm_pushnil(VM) Pushes nil on the current stack
dup buzzvm_dup(VM) Pushes stack(1) on the current stack
pop buzzvm_pop(VM) Removes stack(1) from the current stack
ret0 buzzvm_ret0(VM) Returns from a closure call without returning a value to the caller
ret1 buzzvm_ret0(VM) Returns from a closure call and returns the current stack(1) to the caller
add buzzvm_add(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) + stack(2), pops operands
sub buzzvm_sub(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) - stack(2), pops operands
mul buzzvm_mul(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) * stack(2), pops operands
div buzzvm_div(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) / stack(2), pops operands
mod buzzvm_mod(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) % stack(2), pops operands
pow buzzvm_pow(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) ^ stack(2), pops operands
unm buzzvm_unm(VM) Pushes -stack(1), pops operand
and buzzvm_and(VM) Pushes the result of logical stack(1) AND stack(2), pops operands
or buzzvm_or(VM) Pushes the result of logical stack(1) OR stack(2), pops operands
not buzzvm_not(VM) Pushes the result of logical NOT stack(1), pops operand
eq buzzvm_eq(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) == stack(2), pops operands
neq buzzvm_neq(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) != stack(2), pops operands
gt buzzvm_gt(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) > stack(2), pops operands
gte buzzvm_gte(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) >= stack(2), pops operands
lt buzzvm_lt(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) < stack(2), pops operands
lte buzzvm_lte(VM) Pushes the result of stack(1) <= stack(2), pops operands
gload buzzvm_gload(VM) Pushes the global variable corresponding to string at stack(1), pops operand
gstore buzzvm_gstore(VM) Stores stack(1) into global variable whose name is at stack(2), pop operands
pusht buzzvm_pusht(VM) Pushes an empty table on the current stack
tput buzzvm_tput(VM) Performs t[k] = v; v is stack(1), k is stack(2)), t is stack(3); pops operands
tget buzzvm_tget(VM) Pushes t[k] on the current stack; k is stack(1)), t is stack(2); pops operands
callc buzzvm_callc(VM) Calls the closure at stack(1) as a normal closure
calls buzzvm_callc(VM) Calls the closure at stack(1) as a swarm closure
pushf CONST buzzvm_pushf(VM, CONST) Pushes a floating-point constant on the current stack
pushi CONST buzzvm_pushi(VM, CONST) Pushes a 32-bit signed integer constant on the current stack
pushs SID buzzvm_pushs(VM, SID) Pushes a string (identified by the string id SID) on the current stack
pushcn ADDR buzzvm_pushcn(VM, ADDR) Pushes the native closure at address ADDR on the current stack
pushcc CID buzzvm_pushcc(VM, CID) Pushes the C closure identified by the id CID on the current stack
pushl ADDR buzzvm_pushl(VM, ADDR) Pushes the lambda at address ADDR on the current stack
lload IDX buzzvm_lload(VM, IDX) Pushes the local variable at index IDX on the current stack; index count starts at 1.
lstore IDX buzzvm_lstore(VM, IDX) Stores stack(1) into the local variable at index IDX, pops operand; index count starts at 1
jump POS Sets the program counter to POS
jumpz POS If stack(1) == 0, sets the program counter to POS; pops operand
jumpnz POS If stack(1) != 0, sets the program counter to POS; pops operand

Debugging Information

To make human-readable error reporting possible, assembly code can be annotated with extra information. Debugging annotations are added to each assembly code line. To mark the beginning of the information, the character | is used; after this character, the line number, column number, and file name are reported, separated by commas. No spaces are allowed before or after the commas. Line and column counts start from 1. For example:

@__label_0
	pushs 0	|7,18,/Users/myuser/test.bzz
	pushi 2	|7,20,/Users/myuser/test.bzz
	gstore	|7,21,/Users/myuser/test.bzz

Debugging information is not mandatory for each line. In fact, the preamble of any Buzz assembly file (the part in which strings are recorded and global symbols are registered) has no associated debugging information.

Tool support

  • Debugging information is automatically generated by bzzparse upon compiling a Buzz script.
  • bzzasm takes each assembly line and uses the assembly command to produce bytecode, and the associated debugging information to produce a debugging information file.
  • bzzdeasm performs the opposite process: it takes as input a bytecode file and a debugging information file, and produces an annotated assembly code file.