Slice algorithms and number parsing, in Flan

The standard library's first real content beyond printers. Everything is
in-place over a slice, because there is no allocator and nowhere to put a copy
- and a slice aliases its owner's storage, so sorting one sorts the original.

No generics means no single sort. Each is spelled per concrete type, which is a
cost paid deliberately rather than worked around.

parse-i64 is written in Flan rather than bound to strtoll, which answers 0 for
an empty string, for a string of letters, and for a genuine zero, and reports
overflow through errno.
This commit is contained in:
Joseph Ferano 2026-09-11 18:57:54 +07:00
commit b34cd6de58
4 changed files with 374 additions and 0 deletions

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@ -56,6 +56,179 @@ let source = {flan|
(defn print-line [s string]
(print-str s)
(newline))
;; Slice algorithms, all in place
;;
;; Over [i32] and nothing else. There are no generics, so one of these per
;; element type is one *copy* per element type, emitted into every program;
;; i32 is the type indices, ids and tile values already have, and f32 copies
;; wait until a program actually wants them.
;;
;; A slice is ptr+len and non-owning, so these mutate the storage they were
;; handed: sorting (slice grid 4 9) sorts those five elements of grid and
;; leaves the rest alone. That is the whole reason the shape is in-place
;; there is no allocator to return a new sequence from.
(defn swap-i32! [s [i32] i i32 j i32]
(let [t (at s i)]
(set (at s i) (at s j))
(set (at s j) t)))
(defn reverse-i32! [s [i32]]
(let [i 0
j (- (len s) 1)]
(while (< i j)
(swap-i32! s i j)
(set i (+ i 1))
(set j (- j 1)))))
;; Insertion sort: in place, no recursion, no auxiliary array and no
;; comparison function quicksort would want a stack and mergesort a buffer,
;; and neither exists. Ascending, and stable, though with no payload type to
;; carry that is not yet observable.
(defn sort-i32! [s [i32]]
(let [i 1]
(while (< i (len s))
(let [j i]
;; `and` short-circuits, which is load-bearing: at j = 0 the left test
;; fails and (at s -1) is never evaluated, so this does not trap.
(while (and (> j 0) (> (at s (- j 1)) (at s j)))
(swap-i32! s (- j 1) j)
(set j (- j 1))))
(set i (+ i 1)))))
;; The first index holding x. None rather than -1, because Option is what the
;; language has and a sentinel index is the bug this avoids.
(defn index-of-i32 [s [i32] x i32] (Option i32)
(dotimes [i (len s)]
(when (= (at s i) x)
(return (Some i))))
None)
;; None for an empty slice: there is no least i32 that is also an honest
;; answer, and returning one would be a value the caller cannot tell from a
;; real element.
(defn min-i32 [s [i32]] (Option i32)
(if (= (len s) 0)
None
(let [m (at s 0)]
(dotimes [i (len s)]
(set m (min m (at s i))))
(Some m))))
(defn max-i32 [s [i32]] (Option i32)
(if (= (len s) 0)
None
(let [m (at s 0)]
(dotimes [i (len s)]
(set m (max m (at s i))))
(Some m))))
;; Accumulates in i64 and each element is widened explicitly there is no
;; implicit widening anywhere in the language, and summing a screenful of i32
;; into an i32 is how a total silently wraps.
(defn sum-i32 [s [i32]] i64
(let [t (i64 0)]
(dotimes [i (len s)]
(set t (+ t (i64 (at s i)))))
t))
;; Bytes
;;
;; Over [u8] and not over string, so (bytes s) is what a caller writes and one
;; copy of each serves strings and byte slices both which is as close to a
;; generic as a language without them gets. Nothing here allocates: every
;; result is a bool, an index, or a number.
(defn bytes=? [a [u8] b [u8]] bool
(if (!= (len a) (len b))
false
(do
(dotimes [i (len a)]
(when (!= (at a i) (at b i))
(return false)))
true)))
;; The length test comes first and `and` short-circuits, so the slice is only
;; built once it is known to be in bounds otherwise a prefix longer than the
;; string would trap rather than answer false.
(defn starts-with? [s [u8] p [u8]] bool
(and (<= (len p) (len s))
(bytes=? (slice s 0 (len p)) p)))
(defn ends-with? [s [u8] p [u8]] bool
(and (<= (len p) (len s))
(bytes=? (slice s (- (len s) (len p)) (len s)) p)))
(defn index-of-byte [s [u8] b u8] (Option i32)
(dotimes [i (len s)]
(when (= (at s i) b)
(return (Some i))))
None)
;; The whole slice is an integer, or it is None. bytes->i64 is strtoll, which
;; answers 0 for "" and for "abc" and stops at the first junk byte in "12x"
;; three wrong answers a caller cannot tell from a real 12. This is also the
;; one that has to be Flan rather than the primitive: strtoll is locale- and
;; libc-dependent, and a parser in the language gives the same answer on
;; wasm32 as on native for the same reason rand-f32 does.
;; Overflow wraps, as all arithmetic here does; it is not reported.
(defn parse-i64 [s [u8]] (Option i64)
(let [i 0
n (i64 0)
neg false]
(when (= (len s) 0)
(return None))
(when (or (= (at s 0) \-) (= (at s 0) \+))
(set neg (= (at s 0) \-))
(set i 1))
(when (= i (len s))
(return None)) ; a lone sign is not a number
(while (< i (len s))
(let [b (at s i)]
(when (or (< b \0) (> b \9))
(return None))
(set n (+ (* n 10) (i64 (- b \0)))))
(set i (+ i 1)))
(if neg (Some (- 0 n)) (Some n))))
;; Numbers
;;
;; Only the two that encode a decision. clamp is (min hi (max lo x)) over two
;; builtins and abs is (max x (- 0 x)); a wrapper over those is a function
;; emitted into every program to save a caller nothing.
;; Zero for zero, and zero for NaN neither is positive nor negative, so
;; neither comparison fires. A caller that needs to know which it got should
;; be testing for NaN, not reading a sign.
(defn sign-f32 [x f32] f32
(cond
(> x 0.0) 1.0
(< x 0.0) -1.0
:else 0.0))
;; Written as the weighted sum and not as a + t*(b - a): the second form does
;; not return b exactly at t = 1.0 once rounding is involved, and a position
;; that does not arrive is the bug an interpolation gets reported for.
(defn lerp [a f32 b f32 t f32] f32
(+ (* (- 1.0 t) a) (* t b)))
;; More of the RNG
;;
;; Both draw exactly one rand-u32, so the sequence a program consumes is the
;; same one; neither touches the generator.
;; [lo, hi). An empty or reversed range answers lo a defined value rather
;; than a remainder by zero, which is immediate undefined behaviour and not a
;; wrong number. The span must fit in i32, since hi - lo is computed there.
(defn rand-i32-range [lo i32 hi i32] i32
(if (<= hi lo)
lo
(+ lo (i32 (% (rand-u32) (u32 (- hi lo)))))))
;; [lo, hi), because rand-f32 never reaches 1.0.
(defn rand-f32-range [lo f32 hi f32] f32
(+ lo (* (rand-f32) (- hi lo))))
|flan}
let file = "<prelude>"

84
test/programs/slices.flan Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
;;;; The prelude's in-place slice algorithms.
;;;;
;;;; Every input here is chosen so that a wrong implementation passes nothing.
;;;; The sort input is unsorted, has duplicates, has negatives and has an odd
;;;; length, so a comparison with the wrong sense, an off-by-one that drops the
;;;; last element, and a swap that loses an equal key all show up. The second
;;;; sort is reverse-sorted, which is the worst case for insertion sort and the
;;;; case a no-op comparison would pass. The third sorts a *subslice* and then
;;;; prints the whole owning array: a slice is ptr+len into its owner, so the
;;;; five elements inside the range must be sorted and the three outside it
;;;; must be untouched. That last one is the property that dies silently if a
;;;; slice parameter ever starts being copied.
(defvar xs [7 i32])
(defvar ys [5 i32])
(defvar zs [8 i32])
(defn show [s [i32]]
(dotimes [i (len s)]
(when (> i 0) (print-str " "))
(print-i64 (i64 (at s i))))
(newline))
(defn load-xs []
(set (at xs 0) 5)
(set (at xs 1) -3)
(set (at xs 2) 5)
(set (at xs 3) 0)
(set (at xs 4) 12)
(set (at xs 5) -3)
(set (at xs 6) 7))
(defn main [] i32
(load-xs)
(show (slice xs 0 (len xs))) ; 5 -3 5 0 12 -3 7
;; Reading the whole slice, before anything reorders it.
(print-i64 (sum-i32 (slice xs 0 (len xs)))) (newline) ; 23
(print-i64 (i64 (match (min-i32 (slice xs 0 (len xs))) (Some v) v None 99)))
(newline) ; -3
(print-i64 (i64 (match (max-i32 (slice xs 0 (len xs))) (Some v) v None 99)))
(newline) ; 12
;; First index, not the last: 5 appears at 0 and at 2.
(print-i64 (i64 (match (index-of-i32 (slice xs 0 (len xs)) 5)
(Some v) v None -1)))
(newline) ; 0
(print-i64 (i64 (match (index-of-i32 (slice xs 0 (len xs)) 4)
(Some v) v None -1)))
(newline) ; -1
;; An empty slice has no least element, and None is the answer.
(print-i64 (i64 (match (min-i32 (slice xs 3 3)) (Some v) v None 99)))
(newline) ; 99
;; Reverse of an odd-length slice: the middle element stays put.
(reverse-i32! (slice xs 0 (len xs)))
(show (slice xs 0 (len xs))) ; 7 -3 12 0 5 -3 5
;; And of a two-element one, the smallest case that can actually move.
(reverse-i32! (slice xs 0 2))
(show (slice xs 0 (len xs))) ; -3 7 12 0 5 -3 5
(load-xs)
(sort-i32! (slice xs 0 (len xs)))
(show (slice xs 0 (len xs))) ; -3 -3 0 5 5 7 12
;; Reverse-sorted: the case a comparison that never fires would pass.
(set (at ys 0) 5) (set (at ys 1) 4) (set (at ys 2) 3)
(set (at ys 3) 2) (set (at ys 4) 1)
(sort-i32! (slice ys 0 (len ys)))
(show (slice ys 0 (len ys))) ; 1 2 3 4 5
;; A subslice, with the elements on both sides left alone.
(set (at zs 0) 100) (set (at zs 1) 9) (set (at zs 2) -1)
(set (at zs 3) 9) (set (at zs 4) 4) (set (at zs 5) 0)
(set (at zs 6) 200) (set (at zs 7) 300)
(sort-i32! (slice zs 1 6))
(show (slice zs 0 (len zs))) ; 100 -1 0 4 9 9 200 300
;; Degenerate lengths must do nothing rather than run off an end.
(sort-i32! (slice zs 0 0))
(reverse-i32! (slice zs 0 0))
(sort-i32! (slice zs 2 3))
(reverse-i32! (slice zs 2 3))
(show (slice zs 0 (len zs))) ; 100 -1 0 4 9 9 200 300
0)

83
test/programs/text.flan Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
;;;; The prelude's byte predicates, parse-i64, and the two number helpers.
;;;;
;;;; The cases are chosen so a wrong implementation fails one: a prefix longer
;;;; than the string (which must answer false, not trap), the empty prefix and
;;;; the whole string as its own prefix, a prefix that matches at the wrong
;;;; end, and for parse-i64 every shape strtoll answers 0 for — "", "abc",
;;;; "12x", "-" — each of which a caller could not tell from a real 0.
(defn show-bool [b bool]
(print-str (if b "t" "f")))
(defn main [] i32
(show-bool (bytes=? (bytes "abc") (bytes "abc"))) ; t
(show-bool (bytes=? (bytes "abc") (bytes "abd"))) ; f same length
(show-bool (bytes=? (bytes "abc") (bytes "ab"))) ; f prefix, not equal
(show-bool (bytes=? (bytes "") (bytes ""))) ; t
(newline)
(show-bool (starts-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes "hel"))) ; t
(show-bool (starts-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes "llo"))) ; f matches the end
(show-bool (starts-with? (bytes "hi") (bytes "hiya"))) ; f longer, no trap
(show-bool (starts-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes ""))) ; t
(show-bool (starts-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes "hello"))) ; t
(newline)
(show-bool (ends-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes "llo"))) ; t
(show-bool (ends-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes "hel"))) ; f matches the start
(show-bool (ends-with? (bytes "hi") (bytes "hiya"))) ; f longer, no trap
(show-bool (ends-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes ""))) ; t
(show-bool (ends-with? (bytes "hello") (bytes "hello"))) ; t
(newline)
;; First occurrence, and None for a byte that is not there.
(print-i64 (i64 (match (index-of-byte (bytes "banana") \a) (Some i) i None -1)))
(print-str " ")
(print-i64 (i64 (match (index-of-byte (bytes "banana") \z) (Some i) i None -1)))
(print-str " ")
(print-i64 (i64 (match (index-of-byte (bytes "") \a) (Some i) i None -1)))
(newline)
;; Accepted.
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "0")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "42")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "-42")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "+7")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "9007199254740993")) (Some v) v None -999))
(newline)
;; Refused. Each of these is a 0 out of strtoll, which is the point.
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "abc")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "12x")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes "-")) (Some v) v None -999)) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (match (parse-i64 (bytes " 1")) (Some v) v None -999))
(newline)
(print-f64 (f64 (sign-f32 3.5))) (print-str " ")
(print-f64 (f64 (sign-f32 -3.5))) (print-str " ")
(print-f64 (f64 (sign-f32 0.0)))
(newline)
;; t = 1.0 must return b exactly, which a + t*(b - a) does not always do.
(print-f64 (f64 (lerp 0.0 10.0 0.0))) (print-str " ")
(print-f64 (f64 (lerp 0.0 10.0 0.25))) (print-str " ")
(print-f64 (f64 (lerp 0.0 10.0 1.0))) (print-str " ")
(print-f64 (f64 (lerp 2.0 -2.0 0.5)))
(newline)
;; The RNG ranges, off a fixed seed, so the numbers are the sequence and not
;; just "something in range". An empty range answers lo and must not divide.
(rand-seed 7)
(dotimes [i 5]
(when (> i 0) (print-str " "))
(print-i64 (i64 (rand-i32-range 10 20))))
(newline)
(print-i64 (i64 (rand-i32-range 5 5))) (print-str " ")
(print-i64 (i64 (rand-i32-range 5 -5)))
(newline)
(rand-seed 7)
(dotimes [i 3]
(when (> i 0) (print-str " "))
(print-f64 (f64 (rand-f32-range 0.0 1.0))))
(newline)
0)

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@ -109,6 +109,40 @@ let () =
outputs "value semantics" "programs/values.flan" values_out;
outputs "machine surface" "programs/machine.flan" machine_out;
outputs "unit main exits 0" "programs/unit-main.flan" "ok\n";
(* The prelude's slice algorithms. Every assertion here is over an input a
wrong implementation fails: unsorted with duplicates, negatives and an
odd length; a reverse-sorted slice; and a sort of a subslice whose
neighbours must be untouched, which is the in-place, ptr+len claim
itself. At -O0 as well a slice parameter is an alloca of a two-word
struct, and mem2reg is exactly what would hide it being copied. *)
let slices_out =
"5 -3 5 0 12 -3 7\n23\n-3\n12\n0\n-1\n99\n\
7 -3 12 0 5 -3 5\n-3 7 12 0 5 -3 5\n\
-3 -3 0 5 5 7 12\n1 2 3 4 5\n\
100 -1 0 4 9 9 200 300\n100 -1 0 4 9 9 200 300\n"
in
outputs "slice algorithms" "programs/slices.flan" slices_out;
outputs ~opt:"-O0" "slice algorithms, -O0" "programs/slices.flan" slices_out;
(* The byte predicates, parse-i64, and the two number helpers. The refused
parse-i64 cases are every shape strtoll answers 0 for "", "abc",
"12x", "-", " 1" so a None there is the whole reason the function is
Flan and not the bytes->i64 primitive. The RNG lines pin the actual
sequence off a fixed seed rather than just a range, which is the only
way a later change to the derivation gets caught; rand-u32 itself is
pinned by the sand hash. *)
let text_out =
"tfft\ntfftt\ntfftt\n\
1 -1 -1\n\
0 42 -42 7 9007199254740993\n\
-999 -999 -999 -999 -999\n\
1 -1 0\n\
0 2.5 10 0\n\
11 14 12 14 15\n5 5\n\
0.793725 0.324519 0.0835023\n"
in
outputs "bytes, parsing and numbers" "programs/text.flan" text_out;
outputs ~opt:"-O0" "bytes, parsing and numbers, -O0" "programs/text.flan"
text_out;
(* handler-bind and signal, spec-conditions.md §1 and §2: signal returns
Unit and carries on, an unhandled one is a no-op, a nested frame does
not displace the one outside it, and the stack is restored after. *)