This is a toy version of the lisp interpreter implemented by "fuck around and find out" with claude,
discussing the approach and implementing it,
I don't expect all the complex features to work nor the code to be optimal like a actual interpreter built by someone who knows this stuff,
this was made for fun as a side project but I'll try to rewrite it when I am more knowledgable about this.
Zisp is a minimalistic Lisp interpreter crafted with Zig.
This project was started because after reaching 58/109 exercises in ziglings, I got overwhelmed with the theory part,
too.much.theowy.hurts.my.brain.and.gets.me.tweaking.mp4
But after beginning to lose interest I remembered that i was the top guy and cannot give up like this,
I.m.the.top.guy.mp4
Having a low attention span and not having read ~10 pages of something in one sitting in past 8 years, im as good as a illiterate,
educational videos too bore me.
So I decided to rawdog Claude with a series of "fuck around and find out" and started to build this,
Since I'm getting results so I'll keep cooking
Tokenizer -> Abstract Syntax Tree -> Parser -> Evaluator -> REPL Environment
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
- AST: Hierarchical structure for Lisp expressions, with support for special forms.
- Evaluator: Implements key Lisp functions (
define,lambda,if, etc.) with arithmetic and comparison operations. - Environment: Manages variable scope with nested support.
- REPL: Interactive, multi-line capable, with immediate result display and simple exit commands.
zisp>(+ (* 2 3) (- 10 5))
Result: -9
zisp>(define x 5)
Result: 5
zisp>(define square (lambda (n) (* n n)))
Result: <lambda with 1 params>
zisp>(if (> 10 5) (* 2 3) (+ 1 1))
Result: 6
zisp>(begin (define y 10) (* y 2))
Result: 20
| Feature | Description | Status | Implementation Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strings | Support for string literals in the Lisp code, allowing text manipulation | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Comments | Support for semicolon-style comments, essential for code documentation | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Float Numbers | Support for decimal point numbers to enable non-integer arithmetic | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Scientific Notation | Support for exponential format numbers (e.g., 1e10) for very large or small values | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Error Reporting | Line and column tracking for precise error location identification | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Symbol Validation | Enforcing symbol naming conventions in the Lisp code | ✔️ | Implemented through tokenizer logic and AST node typing |
| Reserved Keywords | Special handling of Lisp-specific keywords like define, lambda, if |
✔️ | Fully implemented with special form handling in AST construction |
| Character Literals | Support for single character values | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Escape Sequences | Support for special characters in strings and other literals | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Alternative Bases | Support for binary, octal, and hexadecimal number representations | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Buffer Management | Dynamic sizing of input buffers for handling varying input lengths | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
| Error Recovery | Graceful handling and recovery from malformed input | ❌ | Not yet implemented |
To run Zisp, simply use:
zig run main.zig