Minez Documentation

Minez is an esoteric programming language created by Dooblix in 2024 (current version: 2025), inspired by Urban Müller's minimalistic esoteric programming language "Brainfuck".

For details on Minez' history and philosophy, see the Esolang Wiki page: https://esolangs.org/wiki/Minez

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Installation

Pre-compiled binaries are available for Windows and Linux. You can find them in the bin/ directory or download them from the GitHub Releases section. For those who prefer building from source, follow the steps below.

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1. Prerequisites

• C compiler installed:
  • Windows: MinGW-w64 or MSYS2 (ensure gcc is in your PATH)
  • Linux/macOS: gcc or clang (e.g., sudo apt install build-essential on Ubuntu/Debian)
• Git (optional, for cloning the repository)
• Terminal / command prompt with access to gcc

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2. Download the repository

Option 1: Clone

git clone https://github.com/Dooblix/Minez.git
cd Minez

Option 2: Download ZIP

• Download the ZIP from GitHub and extract it.
• Navigate to the extracted folder:

cd Minez

Remove any existing binaries in bin/ before building from source to avoid conflicts.

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3. Compile

Windows:

gcc -O3 src/*.c -o bin/minez-windows.exe

Linux/macOS:

gcc -O3 src/*.c -o bin/minez-linux -lm

• -O3 enables optimization.
• Optional: -Wall enables all compiler warnings.
• For maximum portability across Linux systems, you can use static linking:

gcc -O3 src/*.c -o bin/minez-linux-static -lm -static

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4. Test

# Windows
bin\minez-windows.exe --help

# Linux/macOS
./bin/minez-linux --help

If the help message appears, the interpreter has been successfully compiled.

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Usage

Run a Minez program with:

minez <path-to-program> [-h] [--help] [-q] [--quiet] [--num-of-regs N] [--print-until N] [--print-intervals A B ...] [--pre-input ""] [--no-pause]

Options:

• --num-of-regs N — Number of registers to allocate (default: 100).
• --print-until N — Number of memory cells to display after program ends and when using d (default: num_of_regs).
• --print-intervals A B ... — Print memory contents in specified intervals. Each interval is a pair of indices A B. Multiple intervals can be provided. Must have an even number of integers.
• --pre-input "" — Provides input values before execution. Separate integers with a delimiter (newline recommended). The number of inputs must match program expectations. Example:

.\bin\minez-windows.exe examples/official/calc.minez --pre-input "234\n-34\n"

• --no-pause — Do not wait for keypress after program ends.
• --quiet/-q — Disables all printing of metadata and debugger (d) commands.
• --help/-h — Prints out this usage guide.

Example:

./bin/minez-windows.exe examples/official/hello_world.minez --num-of-regs 1

Will output:

Hello World!

-------------------------------------

Program halted at index 40.

Program ended successfully!
Memory: 33
Pointer: 0
Stack: empty
Index memory: empty
Runtime: 0.001161 sec
Press any key to continue...

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Python Helper

minez_helper.py can generate repetitive Minez code automatically (printing, strings or lists):

python scripts/minez_helper.py string "Hello" --reg 1 # >1+72#+29#+7##+3# 
python scripts/minez_helper.py list "10,20,-30" --reg 5 --clear-garbage # >5x+10>x+20>x-30

• --clear-garbage — Resets used registers to 0.
• --as-list — Store a string as a list of ASCII values (only for type string).
• Note: string (without --as-list) produces a Minez snippet that prints the string.

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Syntax Reference

Note: This is a simplified summary. Refer to spec.md for the full specification.

Pointer Manipulation

Command	Description
>y	Move pointer to absolute index y.
>	Increment pointer by 1.
<	Decrement pointer by 1.

Flow Control

Command	Description
^y	Jump to program index y, saving pointer of the next command on the stack.
^s	Jump back to the last saved value on the stack.
[	Begin loop (executes while current register ≠ 0). Skipped if register = 0.
~	Skip to next loop iteration (like continue).
]	End loop (repeats if register ≠ 0).
{}(...)	Conditional block: {reg>reg}, {reg<reg}, {reg=reg}. Use i for the current register.
;	End program.

Stack Operations

Command	Description
@	Push value of current register onto the stack.
@R	Push current runtime (in ms) onto the stack.
_	Pop last value from the stack into the current register (additively).

Register Arithmetic

Command	Description
+y	Increment current register by y.
+R	Add current runtime (in ms) to the current register.
+	Increment current register by 1.
-y	Decrement current register by y.
-R	Subtract current runtime (in ms) from the current register.
-	Decrement current register by 1.
x	Reset current register to 0.

Input/Output

Command	Description
#	Output ASCII character of current register.
#!	Output numeric value of current register.
.	Read a single input character into current register (ASCII).
:	Read an integer into current register (any size, incl. negatives).

Index Memory

Command	Description
|	Save current pointer index (index_memory).
->	Jump to last saved index.
->(y)	Jump to the y-th saved index.
X	Delete last saved index.

Debugging

Command	Description
d	Print debugging information (Memory, Pointer, Stack, Index memory, Loop stack).

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Examples

This repository contains two kinds of examples:

• examples/official/ — written and maintained by me, thoroughly tested, and meant to demonstrate how Minez works and what it can do
• examples/community/ — written by the community, showcasing what people build with Minez

Got a cool Minez project? Open a GitHub Issue and share it — It might be added to examples/community/!

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Author

Dooblix © 2026