Landing bug A from the previous writeup plus two adjacent bugs
that the fix exposed. All three miscompile anything that uses a
u8[N] global with a literal initializer.
1. Array-literal globals are now actually initialized.
`lower_program` only expanded `Expr::StructLiteral` into per-
field synthetic globals — `Expr::ArrayLiteral` hit
`eval_const`, returned `None`, and the array boot-cleared to
zero. `IrGlobal` now carries an `init_array: Vec<u8>`
populated by lowering, and the IR codegen startup loop emits
one `LDA #byte; STA base+i` pair per element.
2. Local variables no longer overlap array globals.
`IrCodeGen::new` advanced `local_ram_next` past
`max_global_base + 1` — for an array at `$0300-$0303` it
placed the first handler-local at `$0301`, inside the array.
The frame handler's stores through the local then corrupted
the array mid-frame. The allocator now walks the analyzer's
`VarAllocation` list and advances past `address + size` for
every RAM global, not just the base.
3. Peephole `remove_redundant_loads` honors indexed LDAs.
The pass tracked `LDA Immediate/ZeroPage/Absolute` but let
`LDA AbsoluteX/AbsoluteY/ZeroPageX/IndirectX/IndirectY` fall
through the match, leaving the A-equivalence tracker
unchanged. A later `LDA #v` that happened to match a stale
entry from BEFORE the indexed load would then be dropped as
"already in A" — a silent miscompile that turned every
`draw Sprite at: (arr[i], arr[j])` pattern into garbage
(the second array index would be computed from `arr[i]`'s
value, reading way out of bounds). Indexed LDAs now clear
the tracker.
Regression tests:
- `src/codegen/peephole.rs`: a synthetic
`LDA #0; TAX; LDA AbsX(arr1); STA temp; LDA #0; TAX;
LDA AbsX(arr2); ...` sequence asserts both `LDA #0`s survive.
- `src/ir/tests.rs`: verifies `var xs: u8[4] = [1,2,3,4]`
populates `IrGlobal::init_array` with `[1,2,3,4]`.
- `tests/integration_test.rs`: two IR-codegen tests — one checks
the startup instructions contain `LDA #v; STA base+i` for
every element, the other compiles a handler-local var
alongside an array global and asserts no post-init stores
land inside the array.
Smoke test impact (14/14 still passing, now more visible):
- arrays_and_functions: 56 -> 104 nonBlack, now animated
- loop_break_continue: 52 -> 208 (player + 3 hazards visible)
- structs_enums_for: 52 -> 104 (player + enemy visible)
Existing examples unchanged; no remaining work for bug B
(static OAM slot allocation in loops) — that's the next PR.
https://claude.ai/code/session_014Z5y3Q9krLcAxYpZQJhZ5V
Fills the biggest feature-coverage gaps in the existing example set:
- match_demo.ne — match statement over a Screen enum,
driving a title / playing / paused /
game-over flow with a debounced controller.
- loop_break_continue.ne — `loop { ... }` with `break` and `continue`,
scanning an enemy array for the first hit.
- logic_ops.ne — keyword-based `and` / `or` / `not` gating
movement and scoring on alive/paused flags.
- bitwise_ops.ne — packed status-byte flags with `&` / `|` /
`^` / `>>` plus a health-bar render loop.
- scanline_split.ne — MMC3 `on scanline(120)` handler rewriting
the scroll register mid-frame for a
classic status-bar split.
All 14 examples (9 existing + 5 new) pass the jsnes smoke test
(`14/14 ROMs rendered successfully`) and still pass `cargo fmt`,
`cargo clippy -D warnings`, and `cargo test`.
Known limitations surfaced while authoring these examples, to be
fixed in follow-up commits:
1. Array-literal global initializers (`var xs: u8[4] = [1,2,3,4]`)
are silently dropped by `lower_program` — `eval_const` returns
None for `Expr::ArrayLiteral` and no synthetic per-element
init code is emitted. Affects `arrays_and_functions`,
`structs_enums_for`, `loop_break_continue`, and any future
array-using example. Arrays effectively boot at all-zero.
2. `draw` inside a loop body reuses one static OAM slot —
`next_oam_slot` increments at IR-codegen time rather than at
runtime, so N iterations all write to the same 4-byte OAM
entry. Affects `arrays_and_functions`, `structs_enums_for`,
`bitwise_ops` (health pips), and any loop that wants to
render per-iteration sprites.
Both bugs are latent and didn't surface until I tried to write
examples that exercise the relevant features — the existing
integration tests only check iNES header structure, and the
jsnes smoke test's "at least one sprite rendered" bar is
satisfied by one sprite even when several were intended.
https://claude.ai/code/session_014Z5y3Q9krLcAxYpZQJhZ5V
Running the compiled example ROMs through a headless puppeteer +
local jsnes harness exposed four latent bugs that the
header-structure-only integration tests couldn't catch:
- src/asm/mod.rs: the first pass treated ANY instruction with
`AddressingMode::Label` as a label definition, silently dropping
every `JMP`/`JSR` to a label. Now only `NOP + Label` is a label
def; other opcodes emit the opcode byte plus a 2-byte absolute
fixup resolved in pass two. Without this, every example crashed
with "invalid opcode at $1xxx" once the CPU fell through into
the math runtime and hit an unbalanced `RTS`.
- src/ir/lowering.rs (lower_handler): handler-local `VarDecl`s
(e.g. `var i: u8 = 0` inside a `while`) were pushed onto
`current_locals` but the handler built its own throwaway
`locals` list, so those var ids never got RAM addresses and
every `LoadVar`/`StoreVar` for them silently emitted nothing.
Seed `current_locals` with the state's declared locals and
reuse it so `lower_statement`'s appends flow through to the
`IrFunction`. Fixes the black screen in `arrays_and_functions`.
- src/ir/lowering.rs (global init): struct-literal initializers
on globals (`var player: Player = Player { x: 120, ... }`) fell
through to `eval_const`, which returned `None` for a
non-literal, so no init code was emitted. Now the per-field
synthetic globals each get their own `init_value`. Fixes the
black screen in `structs_enums_for`.
- src/codegen/mod.rs: the legacy AST codegen was emitting
`JSR __fn_poke` / treating `peek` as `LDA #0` for the hardware
intrinsics. It only "worked" before because the broken
assembler swallowed the bogus JSR. Handle `poke`/`peek` as
direct STA/LDA to a compile-time-constant absolute address,
matching the IR codegen's intrinsic path.
The harness lives in `tests/emulator/`: a tiny HTML page that
wraps the `jsnes` npm package, driven by a puppeteer script that
loads each ROM, runs ~180 frames, snapshots the canvas, and
records a smoke-test verdict (booted without a CPU crash, non-zero
pixels rendered, frames differ over time). `npm install && node
run_examples.mjs` from `tests/emulator/` runs the full sweep.
9/9 example ROMs now load, render, and animate where expected.
All 324 unit + 35 integration tests still pass.
https://claude.ai/code/session_014Z5y3Q9krLcAxYpZQJhZ5V
Common PPU/APU/mapper access previously required either variable
aliases or inline asm. Now two built-in intrinsics handle the
single-register case directly:
poke(0x2006, 0x3F) // STA \$3F, \$2006
poke(0x2006, 0x00)
poke(0x2007, 0x0F)
var status: u8 = peek(0x2002)
- Analyzer: \`poke\` / \`peek\` are recognized as built-in intrinsics
so they don't require a function declaration. Arity is still
checked (E0203 on mismatch).
- IR: new \`IrOp::Poke(u16, IrTemp)\` and \`IrOp::Peek(IrTemp, u16)\`
variants carrying the compile-time constant address.
- IR lowering: recognizes the \`poke\`/\`peek\` call names, evaluates
the address as a const expression, and emits the intrinsic op.
Falls back to a regular call if the address isn't a constant.
- IR codegen: emits a single LDA/STA in ZP or absolute mode based
on whether the address fits in a byte.
- Optimizer: Poke has a source temp (liveness), Peek has a dest
(new value); both pass through the existing passes.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
raw asm {
LDA #\$42
STA \$00
}
Unlike regular \`asm\`, \`raw asm\` does not perform \`{var}\`
substitution — the body is passed to the inline parser verbatim.
Useful for writing completely unmanaged bytes that don't rely on
the analyzer's variable allocations, e.g. mapper init snippets.
Implementation:
- Parser: \`KwRaw\` followed by \`KwAsm\` emits
\`Statement::RawAsm(body, span)\`.
- IR lowering: prepends a \`\\0RAW\\0\` marker to the body when
emitting \`IrOp::InlineAsm\` so the codegen can distinguish raw
from regular without adding a second op variant.
- IR codegen: strips the marker and skips substitution when present.
- AST codegen: same, handling \`Statement::RawAsm\` directly.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Within \`asm { ... }\` blocks, \`{name}\` is replaced with the
resolved hex address of the variable at codegen time. The lexer's
asm-body capture now balances nested braces so it doesn't cut off
at the first \`{x}\`. Both IR and AST codegen paths preprocess the
body before passing to the inline parser:
var counter: u8 = 0
on frame {
asm {
LDA {counter}
CLC
ADC #\$01
STA {counter}
}
}
Zero-page addresses become \`\$XX\`, absolute addresses become
\`\$XXXX\`. Unknown names pass through unchanged so the asm parser
can surface the "unknown mnemonic" / "unexpected token" error.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
match state {
Title => { if button.start { state = Playing } }
Playing => { /* ... */ }
GameOver => { if button.a { state = Title } }
_ => {}
}
- Lexer: \`match\` keyword and \`=>\` (FatArrow) token
- Parser: \`parse_match\` after the existing loop constructs. Each
arm is \`pattern => { body }\`, with \`_\` as the catch-all. The
match scrutinee is parsed with struct-literal restriction enabled
so the following \`{\` is unambiguously the match body, not a
struct literal.
- The parser desugars match directly into an if/else-if chain so
the analyzer, IR lowering, and codegen don't need new AST variants
— each arm becomes \`scrutinee == pattern\` as the condition, and
the default arm (if any) becomes the final \`else\` block.
Tests cover parse + full pipeline integration for state-style
dispatch using an enum.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
struct Vec2 { x: u8, y: u8 }
var pos: Vec2 = Vec2 { x: 100, y: 50 }
on frame {
pos = Vec2 { x: pos.x + 1, y: pos.y }
}
- AST: new \`Expr::StructLiteral(name, fields, span)\` variant
- Parser: in expression position, \`Ident {\` enters struct-literal
mode when the new \`restrict_struct_literals\` flag is off.
\`if\`/\`while\`/\`for\` conditions set the flag so the \`{\` keeps
going to the following block. Condition contexts can still use
struct literals by parenthesizing them.
- Analyzer: validates that the struct type exists, each named field
belongs to it, and each field value has a compatible type.
- IR lowering: desugars \`var = StructLiteral { ... }\` (both in
assignments and variable initializers) into per-field StoreVar
operations against the analyzer-synthesized \`var.field\`
variables. No IR type for struct values is needed.
- AST codegen: no-op (legacy path).
- examples/structs_enums_for.ne now uses a struct literal for the
initial \`player\` state instead of per-field assignments.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Function bodies can declare local variables with \`var NAME: u8 = …\`.
Previously the lowering created a VarId for them but didn't track it
on the \`IrFunction.locals\` list, so the IR codegen had no address
to map it to and \`LoadVar\` / \`StoreVar\` silently did nothing. The
generated function body read and wrote random temp slots.
Fixes:
- Lowering: replaced the per-function \`locals\` local with a
long-lived \`current_locals\` field; \`lower_function\` resets it
on entry and moves it into the \`IrFunction\` at exit. Each
\`Statement::VarDecl\` inside a function body appends to
\`current_locals\`.
- IR codegen: iterate every function's \`locals\` list. Params 0..4
still map to \$04-\$07, and the remaining locals get addresses in
main RAM starting at \$0300. Each function's locals are disjoint,
so nested calls don't corrupt each other's state.
- Integration test \`program_with_function_local_variables\`
exercises nested calls with function-local state to guard against
regression.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Adds a \`for NAME in START..END { BODY }\` half-open range loop:
for i in 0..8 {
total += arr[i]
}
- Lexer: \`for\`, \`in\` keywords and the \`..\` range operator
- AST: new \`Statement::For\` variant with var/start/end/body
- Parser: \`parse_for\` after \`while\` / \`loop\`
- Analyzer: registers the loop variable as a u8 symbol for the body
(restoring any shadowed outer symbol afterwards), allocates it via
the normal RAM allocator, and tracks it as "used"
- IR lowering: desugars to \`var = start; while var < end { body;
var = var + 1 }\` using a \`for_step\` continue-edge block so
\`continue\` properly increments the index
- AST codegen: no-op (legacy path doesn't need for loops)
- Tests: parse + full-pipeline integration
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Extends the \`on_scanline\` codegen to support multiple scanline
handlers across states:
- \`__irq_user\` now dispatches by \`current_state\`: each state with a
scanline handler gets a CMP/BNE/JSR entry in the dispatch table.
States without a handler fall through to just acknowledge the IRQ.
- New \`__ir_mmc3_reload\` helper that (re)loads the MMC3 counter
latch based on \`current_state\`. States without a scanline handler
fall through to disable the IRQ (\$E000 write).
- Linker detects the \`__ir_mmc3_reload\` label in user code and
splices a JSR into it at the top of the NMI handler, so the
counter is reloaded once per frame with the current state's
target scanline.
- IRQ handler no longer re-enables IRQ on ACK (the NMI reload now
handles that) so it won't fire multiple times per frame.
- Program init chooses the start state's scanline count (if any) or
the first scanline handler found as a fallback.
Also fixes \`dump_asm\`: a \`NOP\` with a \`Label\` operand is a label
definition, but any other opcode with a \`Label\` operand is a real
instruction like \`JSR foo\`. The old dump was hiding JSR/JMP targets.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Wires \`on scanline(N)\` handlers through IR lowering and codegen:
- IR lowering: each scanline handler becomes a regular IR function
named \`{state}_scanline_{N}\`
- IR codegen: when any scanline handler exists, emits MMC3 IRQ setup
at program start (\$C000 latch, \$C001 reload, \$E001 enable, CLI)
and a \`__irq_user\` handler that saves registers, acknowledges via
\$E000, JSRs the scanline handler, restores registers, and RTIs
- Linker: vector table prefers \`__irq_user\` over the default \`__irq\`
stub when both exist
Scope of this first pass is intentionally minimal: supports ONE
scanline handler per program (the first one found in IR function
order). Per-state dispatch and multi-scanline reload will come later.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Adds composite \`struct\` types with field access:
struct Vec2 { x: u8, y: u8 }
var pos: Vec2
pos.x = 100
pos.y = pos.x + 5
- Lexer: \`struct\` keyword
- AST: \`StructDecl\` with \`StructField\` list; \`NesType::Struct(name)\`
for struct-typed variable declarations; \`Expr::FieldAccess\` and
\`LValue::Field\` for reads/writes
- Parser: top-level \`struct Name { field: type, ... }\` (optional
trailing comma) and \`ident.field\` syntax in both expression and
lvalue position
- Analyzer: \`register_struct\` computes contiguous field offsets
(no padding) and stores them in \`struct_layouts\`. Struct variables
synthesize a \`VarAllocation\` per field under the name
\`"struct_var.field"\`, and \`Expr::FieldAccess\` / \`LValue::Field\`
resolve against those. Unknown struct types and unknown fields
emit E0201.
- IR lowering + AST codegen: treat struct field access as ordinary
variable access against the synthetic per-field symbols. No new IR
ops are needed.
v1 structs only support primitive fields (u8/i8/bool). Nested structs,
u16 fields, and array fields are not yet allowed.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Documents the \`enum Name { Variant, ... }\` syntax and adds
\`--dump-ir\` and \`--use-ast\` to the CLI flag table. Also adds
an integration test covering enum-variant-as-condition and variant
assignment through the full compile pipeline.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
- Lexer: after \`asm\` keyword, next \`{\` triggers raw-text capture of
the body until the matching \`}\`, emitted as a new \`AsmBody\` token
- Parser: \`asm { ... }\` produces \`Statement::InlineAsm(body, span)\`
- Analyzer: treats inline asm as opaque (no checks)
- IR: new \`IrOp::InlineAsm(String)\` variant that passes the body
through the optimizer unchanged
- \`src/asm/inline_parser.rs\`: minimal 6502 mnemonic parser supporting
every addressing mode we emit elsewhere (immediate, ZP/ABS with X/Y,
indirect, indirect-X/Y, labels, branches, implied, accumulator)
- Both IR and AST codegen splice parsed instructions inline
- Integration test covers a mix of implied + immediate + ZP + A modes
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
State machine dispatch:
- IrProgram now stores states (Vec<String>) and start_state
- Lowering captures state metadata before walking the AST
- IR codegen generates a main loop with vblank wait and CMP+BNE+JMP
dispatch table, matching the AST codegen's layout
- Each frame handler ends with JMP __ir_main_loop
- current_state initialized to the start state's index at boot
Multi-OAM support:
- next_oam_slot counter, reset at the start of each _frame function
- Sequential allocation of 4-byte OAM entries at $0200 + slot*4
- Silently drops draws beyond slot 63 (OAM full)
Transition codegen:
- IrOp::Transition now looks up the target state's index from
state_indices, writes it to ZP $03, and JMPs back to main loop
- Previously this was a no-op placeholder
Shared constants:
- ZP_FRAME_FLAG ($00) and ZP_CURRENT_STATE ($03) match AST codegen
Tests: 271 total (5 new IR codegen tests + 2 new integration tests)
All 7 examples compile through --use-ir, including multi-state games
and programs with transitions and functions.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
New src/codegen/ir_codegen.rs walks IrProgram and emits 6502 instructions.
This enables optimizer passes to actually affect the output ROM.
Design:
- Each IR temp gets a zero-page slot at $80 + temp_index
- Functions reset the temp counter at entry (temps don't outlive functions)
- Globals map by name to their analyzer-assigned zero-page addresses
- Operands are loaded into A, computed, stored back to the dest slot
Handles all IrOp variants:
- LoadImm, LoadVar, StoreVar (basic loads/stores)
- Add/Sub (CLC+ADC / SEC+SBC)
- Mul (JSR __multiply runtime routine)
- And/Or/Xor (zero-page operands)
- ShiftLeft/ShiftRight (repeated ASL/LSR)
- Negate/Complement (EOR #$FF + optional two's complement)
- CmpEq/Ne/Lt/Gt/LtEq/GtEq (CMP + conditional branch + 0/1)
- ArrayLoad/ArrayStore (TAX + ZeroPageX/AbsoluteX)
- Call (ZP param passing + JSR)
- DrawSprite (OAM slot 0 write, uses sprite_tiles map)
- ReadInput (LDA $01, P1 input)
- WaitFrame (poll frame flag at $00)
All terminators:
- Jump (JMP to block label)
- Branch (LDA temp + BNE true / JMP false)
- Return (optional value in A + RTS)
- Unreachable (BRK)
IR lowering fixes:
- ReadInput now has a destination IrTemp (was a side-effect-only op)
- ButtonRead uses the proper input temp instead of uninitialized register
- Logical AND/OR use new emit_move helper (OR with zero) instead of
bogus raw VarId for path merging
CLI:
- New --use-ir flag on `build` subcommand to opt in to IR codegen
- Default remains AST codegen (for now); IR codegen is experimental
All 7 examples compile through the IR pipeline and produce valid iNES ROMs.
Tests: 266 total (7 new ir_codegen unit + 2 new integration).
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Sprite/asset pipeline:
- Linker::link_with_assets() places sprite CHR data in ROM at correct tile
- assets::resolve_sprites() walks Program for inline sprite bytes
- CodeGen::with_sprites() maps sprite names to tile indices
- gen_draw() uses correct tile index from sprite declarations
- main.rs wires the full resolution pipeline
Shift-assign operators (<<= and >>=):
- AssignOp::ShiftLeftAssign and ShiftRightAssign variants
- Parser handles in both statement and array index contexts
- Codegen emits ASL A / LSR A
- IR lowering maps to ShiftLeft/ShiftRight ops
Unreachable state warning (W0104):
- BFS from start state finds reachable states via transitions
- States not reached produce W0104 warning
Error polish helpers:
- suggest_var_name() for "did you mean" suggestions
- emit_undefined_var() for E0502 with typo hints
- Used by analyzer for better diagnostics
242 tests pass, clippy clean.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Pipeline:
- main.rs now runs IR lowering and optimization before codegen
- IR is built and optimized but output still uses AST-based codegen
(IR-based codegen is a future improvement)
Coin Cavern example (examples/coin_cavern.ne):
- 3-state game: Title → Playing → GameOver
- Functions (clamp_x), constants, gravity physics, coin collection
- Demonstrates most M2 language features
Integration tests (14 total, 7 new):
- program_with_functions: functions with params and return values
- program_with_while_loop: while loops compile correctly
- program_with_fast_slow_vars: placement hints accepted
- program_with_multi_state_transitions: 3-state cycle
- coin_cavern_compiles: full Coin Cavern example
- ir_pipeline_produces_ir: validates IR lowering + optimizer
- error_test_recursion_detected: E0402 for recursive functions
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
