Infinity Note Compiler
Project description
Infinity is a platform-independent system for executables and shared libraries to expose functionality to debug, monitoring, and analysis tooling.
In Infinity, executable and shared library files contain Infinity notes in addition to their regular contents. Each Infinity note contains a function encoded in a platform-independent instruction set that note-consuming tools can load and execute.
This package provides I8C, a compiler for creating object files containing Infinity notes. This package also provides I8X, an execution environment that can be used to create unit tests for compiled notes.
Installation
The easiest way to install I8C and I8X is to use pip:
pip install -U --user i8c
or:
sudo pip install -U i8c
Either of those commands will install both I8C and I8X. If you don’t have pip please refer to installing pip. Hint: try one of these commands:
sudo apt-get install python-pip sudo yum install python-pip
The latest development versions of I8C and I8X are available from GitLab. To build and install from source use setup.py:
python setup.py install --user
or:
sudo python setup.py install
I8C and I8X require Python 2.6 or newer.
License
I8C is licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
I8X is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
I8X loads user-supplied note testcases into itself, making a combined work. The LGPL allows note testcases to be licensed however their authors choose.
For the avoidance of doubt, I8C does not make a combined work with its input. I8C’s input may also be licensed however its authors choose.
Note Compiler
The note compiler’s standard mode of operation is to translate
source code into object files which can be linked into executables
or shared libraries in the usual manner. This example will
generate the file factorial.o:
cd examples/factorial i8c -c factorial.i8
I8C uses GCC both to preprocess its input (unless invoked with
-fpreprocessed) and to assemble its output (unless invoked with
-E or -S). If GCC is used, all options not explicitly listed
by i8c --help will be passed to GCC unmodified. In general I8C
operates like GCC, so if you’re used to using GCC then I8C should
make sense.
Execution Environment
I8X is an execution environment for testing Infinity notes. When
invoked as i8x --quick (or i8x -q) I8X executes a single note
function, taking arguments from the command line and displaying the
result on the console:
cd examples/factorial i8x -i factorial.o -q "example::factorial(i)i" 5
When invoked without -q or --quick I8X expects one or more note
testcases to be specified on the command line. Note testcases are
written in Python using an extension of the unittest unit testing
framework. Testcases execute note functions with specific inputs and
check the operation and result of the call proceeds as expected. This
example tests the factorial.o object file created in the first
example above:
cd examples/factorial i8x -i factorial.o test-factorial.py
Documentation
Documentation for Infinity is currently being put together on the Infinity wiki. Good starting points are I8Language and NoteFormat.
Right now there’s no documentation for I8C and I8X aside from this
file and what you see in i8c --help and i8x --help. This is
being worked on!
Contributing
The Infinity project homepage is https://infinitynotes.org/. Future work is planned and coordinated on https://infinitynotes.org/roadmap. For help or to report bugs please email infinity@sourceware.org.
