(compiler) Make compiled mode be the default and drop interpreted mode

This is the biggest change for a while. Because #406 is moving along nicely, we are now ready to: * Flip the switch, i.e. _make compiled mode the default_ for Perlang. * Remove the PerlangInterpreter class in its entirety. This may be reimplemented in one form or another, once we have the LLVM-emitting backend in place, but not as a tree-walking interpreter. This probably means we'll drop Windows (and perhaps macOS) support for a while. Please don't despair; this is not intended to be permanent. While we depend on a specific Clang version for compiling Perlang code, it simply gets easier to not have to support too many platforms. Once we have started emitting C++ code from Perlang, in an idempotent way (being able to disable all timestamping etc in the file header), we could see how hard it would be to get this Perlang-to-C++-transpiled code compiling on macOS and Windows too.
perlang-org · Apr 25, 2024 · e124496 · e124496
1 parent 783c5df
commit e124496
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diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -9,15 +9,12 @@ jobs:
     strategy:
       matrix:
         runner:
-          - windows-2022
+          # Windows and maOS disabled as of https://github.com/perlang-org/perlang/pull/465. We are planning to
+          # reintroduce Windows and macOS support in the future, but for now, we are focusing on Linux for simplicity.
+          # Once we have a compiler which is C# and C++ (transpiled from Perlang), we should be able to build the
+          # compiler for these platforms, but getting rid of the "Linux-onliness" of the compiler really depends on
+          # moving to an LLVM-based backend, so we don't need to shell-execute clang++-14 to compile the C++ code.
           - ubuntu-22.04
-          - macos-11
-        execution_mode:
-          - interpreted
-        include:
-          # Run in interpreted mode on all runners, but additionally also in compiled mode on Ubuntu
-          - runner: ubuntu-22.04
-            execution_mode: compiled
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v1
@@ -39,5 +36,4 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run test suite
         run: dotnet test --configuration Release --verbosity minimal
         env:
-          PERLANG_EXPERIMENTAL_COMPILATION: ${{ matrix.execution_mode == 'compiled' && 'true' || 'false' }}
           PERLANG_ROOT: ${{ github.workspace }}
diff --git a/Perlang.sln b/Perlang.sln
@@ -45,6 +45,18 @@ Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "release-notes", "release-no
 		release-notes\v0.5.0.md = release-notes\v0.5.0.md
 	EndProjectSection
 EndProject
+Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = ".github", ".github", "{74DEE88F-82F6-49CB-A019-E527D293E0B4}"
+EndProject
+Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "workflows", "workflows", "{0220A61B-85BE-4076-9FDA-0467E6971F40}"
+	ProjectSection(SolutionItems) = preProject
+		.github\workflows\perlang-install.yml = .github\workflows\perlang-install.yml
+		.github\workflows\publish-release-packages.yml = .github\workflows\publish-release-packages.yml
+		.github\workflows\publish-snapshot-packages.yml = .github\workflows\publish-snapshot-packages.yml
+		.github\workflows\publish-website.yml = .github\workflows\publish-website.yml
+		.github\workflows\test.yml = .github\workflows\test.yml
+		.github\workflows\website.yml = .github\workflows\website.yml
+	EndProjectSection
+EndProject
 Global
 	GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
 		Debug|Any CPU = Debug|Any CPU
@@ -99,5 +111,7 @@ Global
 		{E9D632CB-E520-4868-9E64-A4A70ACD713C} = {F13F8E4E-5231-4321-9722-1BFCC08E5BB5}
 		{7E7CF7BF-F792-49C9-BB16-67FE856D8D51} = {B924E83B-6AFE-4ABF-B79D-444F92582892}
 		{3223DBA6-64AE-41B5-8864-6FDD232FCE7F} = {47B4A37F-6999-4510-9815-418E03D7B39E}
+		{74DEE88F-82F6-49CB-A019-E527D293E0B4} = {47B4A37F-6999-4510-9815-418E03D7B39E}
+		{0220A61B-85BE-4076-9FDA-0467E6971F40} = {74DEE88F-82F6-49CB-A019-E527D293E0B4}
 	EndGlobalSection
 EndGlobal
diff --git a/release-notes/v0.5.0.md b/release-notes/v0.5.0.md
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 - Remove `using namespace` in generated C++ code [[#458][458]]
 - Add partial inline C++ support [[#462][462]]
 - Detect method being redefined [[#464][464]]
+- Make compiled mode be the default and drop interpreted mode [[#465][465]]
 
 ### Changed
 #### Data types
@@ -49,3 +50,4 @@
 [462]: https://github.com/perlang-org/perlang/pull/462
 [463]: https://github.com/perlang-org/perlang/pull/463
 [464]: https://github.com/perlang-org/perlang/pull/464
+[465]: https://github.com/perlang-org/perlang/pull/465
diff --git a/src/Perlang.Common/PerlangMode.cs b/src/Perlang.Common/PerlangMode.cs
@@ -5,11 +5,17 @@ namespace Perlang;
 
 public static class PerlangMode
 {
-    public static bool ExperimentalCompilation
+    public static bool ExperimentalCompilation => !ExperimentalInterpretation;
+
+    private static bool ExperimentalInterpretation
     {
         get
         {
-            string environmentVariable = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PERLANG_EXPERIMENTAL_COMPILATION");
+            // This used to be an environment variable PERLANG_EXPERIMENTAL_COMPILATION. Now that compilation is enabled
+            // by default, we have flipped the flag to instead be PERLANG_EXPERIMENTAL_INTERPRETATION. The interpreter
+            // part (which will in fact emit native code via an LLVM backend) is not yet implemented, but we're keeping
+            // the infrastructure in place to make room for it until if/when it gets implemented.
+            string environmentVariable = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("PERLANG_EXPERIMENTAL_INTERPRETATION");
 
             // The environment variable takes precedence, if set
             if (Boolean.TryParse(environmentVariable, out bool flag))
@@ -19,7 +25,7 @@ public static bool ExperimentalCompilation
 
             string homeDirectory = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.UserProfile);
 
-            return File.Exists(Path.Combine(homeDirectory, ".perlang_experimental_compilation"));
+            return File.Exists(Path.Combine(homeDirectory, ".perlang_experimental_interpretation"));
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Perlang.ConsoleApp/Program.cs b/src/Perlang.ConsoleApp/Program.cs
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@
 using System.Text;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
 using Perlang.Compiler;
-using Perlang.Internal;
 using Perlang.Interpreter;
 using Perlang.Interpreter.Compiler;
 using Perlang.Interpreter.NameResolution;
@@ -56,7 +55,6 @@ internal enum ExitCodes
             INVALID_ARGUMENT = 67
         }
 
-        private readonly PerlangInterpreter interpreter;
         private readonly PerlangCompiler compiler;
 
         /// <summary>
@@ -81,11 +79,6 @@ internal enum ExitCodes
 
         private readonly HashSet<WarningType> disabledWarningsAsErrors;
 
-        /// <summary>
-        /// A flag which determines if (highly experimental) compilation to machine code is enabled or not.
-        /// </summary>
-        private readonly bool experimentalCompilation;
-
         private bool hadError;
         private bool hadRuntimeError;
 
@@ -267,20 +260,11 @@ public static int Main(string[] args)
             this.standardOutputHandler = standardOutputHandler;
             this.standardErrorHandler = standardOutputHandler;
             this.disabledWarningsAsErrors = (disabledWarningsAsErrors ?? Enumerable.Empty<WarningType>()).ToHashSet();
-            this.experimentalCompilation = experimentalCompilation;
 
             // Convenience fields while we are migrating away from CLR strings to Perlang strings.
             this.standardOutputHandlerFromClrString = s => this.standardOutputHandler(Lang.String.from(s));
             this.standardErrorHandlerFromClrString = s => this.standardErrorHandler(Lang.String.from(s));
 
-            interpreter = new PerlangInterpreter(
-                runtimeErrorHandler ?? RuntimeError,
-                this.standardOutputHandler,
-                null,
-                arguments ?? new List<string>(),
-                replMode: replMode
-            );
-
             compiler = new PerlangCompiler(
                 runtimeErrorHandler ?? RuntimeError,
                 this.standardOutputHandler
@@ -298,14 +282,7 @@ private int RunFile(string path)
             var bytes = File.ReadAllBytes(path);
             string source = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(bytes);
 
-            if (experimentalCompilation)
-            {
-                CompileAndRun(source, path, CompilerWarning);
-            }
-            else
-            {
-                Run(source, CompilerWarning);
-            }
+            CompileAndRun(source, path, CompilerWarning);
 
             // Indicate an error in the exit code.
             if (hadError)
@@ -350,18 +327,6 @@ private int CompileAndAssembleFile(string path)
             return (int)ExitCodes.SUCCESS;
         }
 
-        internal int Run(string source, CompilerWarningHandler compilerWarningHandler)
-        {
-            object? result = interpreter.Eval(source, ScanError, ParseError, NameResolutionError, ValidationError, ValidationError, compilerWarningHandler);
-
-            if (result != null && result != VoidObject.Void)
-            {
-                standardOutputHandler(Utils.Stringify(result));
-            }
-
-            return (int)ExitCodes.SUCCESS;
-        }
-
         private void CompileAndRun(string source, string path, CompilerWarningHandler compilerWarningHandler)
         {
             compiler.CompileAndRun(source, path, CompilerFlags.None, ScanError, ParseError, NameResolutionError, ValidationError, ValidationError, compilerWarningHandler);
@@ -374,7 +339,9 @@ private void CompileAndAssemble(string source, string path, CompilerWarningHandl
 
         private void ParseAndPrint(string source)
         {
-            string? result = interpreter.Parse(source, ScanError, ParseError);
+            // TODO: Implement this in PerlangCompiler. Should definitely be doable, and could be taken in a nice little
+            // TODO: isolated PR of its own.
+            string? result = compiler.Parse(source, ScanError, ParseError);
 
             if (result == null)
             {

diff --git a/src/Perlang.Interpreter/Compiler/PerlangCompiler.cs b/src/Perlang.Interpreter/Compiler/PerlangCompiler.cs
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ private static bool CompilationCacheDisabled
         }
     }
 
+    internal IBindingHandler BindingHandler { get; }
+
     private readonly Action<RuntimeError> runtimeErrorHandler;
     private readonly Action<Lang.String> standardOutputHandler;
     private readonly PerlangEnvironment globals = new();
@@ -97,8 +99,6 @@ private static bool CompilationCacheDisabled
     private readonly ImmutableDictionary<string, Type> nativeClasses;
     private readonly IDictionary<string, Method> methods;
 
-    private IBindingHandler BindingHandler { get; }
-
     private StringBuilder currentMethod;
 
     private int indentationLevel = 1;
@@ -1562,4 +1562,9 @@ private record Method(string Name, IImmutableList<Parameter> Parameters, string
             )
         );
     }
+
+    public string? Parse(string source, Action<ScanError> scanError, Action<ParseError> parseError)
+    {
+        throw new NotImplementedException();
+    }
 }