MatheusAvellar / set-lang

Esoteric Set programming language - Interpreters and example codes

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Hey! This is very old code from when I had close to zero understanding of compilers, parsers and their respective best practices. I wouldn't use this code for anything, but I'll leave it here for archival purposes. Sorry for the trouble. —2021 me

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About Set

Esoteric Set programming language - Only one command, endless possibilities! Based off the original specification by reddit user qwertyu63. Developed by Matheus Avellar. Feel free to check the Live interpreter done in JavaScript. Check the Esolangs page, or perhaps the Rosettacode page.

Variables

Set supports 52 assignable variables. Each variable is a single upper or lower case letter and stores a single unbounded integer. All lower case variables are initialized to 0; all upper case variables are initialized to their ASCII representation (65-90). There is also a special system variable indicated by a question mark (?), which contains the line of code currently being executed.

Commands (set A B)

As previously estabilished, there is only 1 command in Set: set A B. Each set command must be on its own line, and is case insensitive. set takes two arguments, each separated by 1 space (set█A█B):

• A must be either a variable or an exclamation point.
• B must be either a variable, an exclamation point, a combiner or an integer.

On most occasions, the set command will set the variable on argument A to the value of argument B.

Example:

set k 10  > Assings 10 to the variable 'k'
set a A   > Assings ASCII value of 'A' (65) to the variable 'a'

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Exclamation point (!)

Exclamation points indicate input/output. When used as argument:

• A: Outputs the ASCII character matching argument B to the screen.
• B: Takes one ASCII character as input and sets argument A to the matching integer.

Example:

> When used as argument "A"
set ! A
set ! B
> Outputs: AB


> When used as argument "B"
set a !  > Prompts the user for a one-character-long value input
         > and assigns it to the variable 'a'

set b !
> Received "B"
> 'b' now equals 66

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Question mark (?)

Question marks represent the line of code which is being executed. When used as argument:

• A: Works as a 'go to' function. Defines the value of B as the line of code to be executed next
• B: Acts as a regular variable. Assigns argument A the number of the current line of code

Example:

set a ?  > Defines 'a' as 1
set ? 1  > Jumps to line 1, thus creating an infinite loop
set z 1  > This line will never be executed, as the code cannot reach it

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Combiners ((N+M))

Combiners allow you to combine two numbers into one. There are two valid combiners; each used in the place of argument B:

• (N+M): is equal to N plus M.
• (N-M): is equal to N minus M.

N and M must be either a variable or a single digit integer.

Example:

set b (A+1)  > Adds 1 to ASCII value of 'A' (65)
             > b becomes 66 (ASCII for 'B')

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Conditionals ([X=Y])

By putting a conditional in front of a set command, you can make that command only run in some situations. There are two valid conditionals:

• [X/Y]: X must not equal Y.
• [X=Y]: X must equal Y.

If the condition is not met, the command is not run. X and Y must be either a variable or a single digit integer.

Example:

set a 1
[a=0] set a 2  > If 'a' equals 0, then set 'a' to 2
[a/0] set a 3  > If 'a' is not equal to 0, then set 'a' to 3

> 'a' is 3

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Comments

Although not specified in the original concept of the Set language, the > (greater than) character may be used to insert comments on the Set code.

Example:

> Whole line comment. Starts with a '>' symbol. This line is completely ignored by the parser.
set a 10  > Inline comment. Starts after a 'set' command, which runs normally.

set b 20  > Convetionally, inline comments should always be separated of
          > the 'set' command by at least 2 spaces