yascript - Fast Tape Interpreter

A blazingly fast interpreter for Brainfuck-like esoteric language with a modern command set.

Features

• Fast: Optimized build (-O3), optional CPU-specific optimization via make NATIVE=1
• Modern Syntax: Readable command names (no > and <, no + and -)
• Loop Syntax: Ruby-inspired repeat N ... end blocks instead of [ and ]
• Execution Pipeline:
  1. Tokenization
  2. Parsing
  3. Multi-pass optimization
  4. Direct execution of optimized instructions
  5. Buffered output (4KB)

Project structure

yascript/
├── src/         # Interpreter implementation
├── include/     # Header files
├── examples/    # Example .ys programs
├── tests/       # Test suite
├── docs/        # Design and optimization documentation
├── Makefile     # Build system
└── README.md

Install Scripts

• Install:

./install.sh

• Uninstall:

./uninstall.sh

NOTE: Requires: g++ with C++23 support (recent GCC/Clang)

Usage

Command-line

Run inline code:

./yascript -e "repeat 72 add; end; output;"

Run from a .ys file:

./yascript hello.ys

Commands

Command	Syntax	Description
Move left	left [N]	Move pointer N cells left (default 1)
Move right	rght [N]	Move pointer N cells right (default 1)
Increment	add [N]	Add N to current cell (default 1)
Decrement	sub [N]	Subtract N from current cell (default 1)
Set value	set N	Set current cell to N
Direct Seek	goto TARGET	Seek tape pointer directly to cell TARGET
Output	output	Output current cell as ASCII
Input	read	Read one byte to current cell
Print number	print	Output current cell as decimal number
Zero cell	zero	Set current cell to 0
Loop start	repeat N	Start loop, repeat N times
Loop end	end	End loop block

Examples

Demo

Language Properties

• Tape: Unlimited dynamically-expanding tape (zero-initialized)
• Cells: 64-bit unsigned integers (uint64_t)
• Comments: # and //
• Extension: .ys

Quick Start

./yascript test.ys

Output: A

Building

make

Optional CPU-optimized build:

make NATIVE=1

Run tests:

make test

Install:

sudo make install

Uninstall:

sudo make uninstall

Important

The image ./docs/assets/logo.png was created using generative AI, or the image is AI generated.