The v0.1 calling convention passes parameters through four fixed
zero-page slots ($04-$07). Functions declared with 5+ parameters
were silently dropped past the 4th, producing a runtime miscompile
with no compile-time signal — a trap I hit while building the
War example (arm_fly took 6 params and silently corrupted fly_card
and fly_face_up).
Add E0506 to the analyzer so the over-arity case becomes a clear
compile-time error pointing at the user's `fun` declaration with
guidance toward globals or splitting. New tests cover both the 5-
param rejection and the 4-param accept boundary.
Documented in examples/war/COMPILER_BUGS.md §1, language-guide.md
"Restrictions" section, and the error code table.
https://claude.ai/code/session_0143dTgh3UeRrtfHgQwzcv5z
- PNG-sourced assets: drop the "automatic CHR generation" TODO
now that `png_to_nametable_with_chr` ships with the resolver.
- User code distribution: drop the banked → banked TODO; only
greedy size-packing and the MMC3 per-state-handler split remain.
- Language feature gaps: drop the metasprite row from the post-v0.1
table and add a paragraph describing the new `metasprite` syntax.
Drop the "nested struct / array struct field" gap; replace it
with a note about the still-rejected array-of-structs case.
- Audio pipeline: note the new pulse pitch envelope path; replace
the "pitch latches once" TODO with the triangle/noise extension.
- Debug instrumentation: note `debug.frame_overrun_count()` and
`debug.frame_overran()`; drop the matching "richer telemetry" TODO.
Items kept (and unchanged) include the WASM build target, register
allocator, fixed-point arithmetic, text/HUD, tilemaps, SRAM, DMC,
multi-channel tracker, NSF/FTM imports, debug.overlay, per-state
background swaps, and the four open design questions.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01KEczoNUX3WmcFLfq6iAQxB
The previous platformer example drew enemies but had almost no
interaction with them: only enemy 1 had a stomp check, the stomp
window was unreachable under the default +1-px-per-frame-plus-a-
jump-every-40-frames autopilot, contact from any other angle was
a silent no-op, and the header comment promised a "title → playing
→ game-over state machine" that didn't actually exist. The README
demo gif and the committed golden both froze that state — a level
the player could walk through indefinitely with no consequence.
Flesh the enemy interaction model out into something real:
- `resolve_enemy_hit(e_sx)`: one helper, called symmetrically for
both enemies. Computes the player/enemy hitbox overlap (horizontal
in `e_sx ∈ (72, 96)`, vertical in `player_y ∈ (152, 176)`) and
branches three ways — falling onto the head is a stomp bounce
(`rise_count = 6`, `fall_vy = 0`, `stomp_count += 1`, `play Boing`);
overlap while `rise_count > 0` is a grace pass-through so the
stomp bounce itself can't retrigger contact on the same enemy;
anything else (walking into the side, standing on the ground
against the enemy) is fatal — `alive = 0` and `play hit`.
- New `GameOver` state: draws four enemy tiles across the middle
of the screen plus a coin row sized to `stomp_count`, stops the
music, lingers 60 frames then auto-retries, and also honours
Start for an instant retry.
- Proximity-based autopilot: pre-jump when an enemy is exactly 19 px
ahead (`e1_sx == 99` or `e2_sx == 99`), capped at two jumps per
life by `auto_jumps < AUTOPILOT_JUMPS`. Tuning: a JUMP_RISE=12,
GRAVITY_CAP=4 jump lands the player's feet at enemy-head height
exactly 21 frames after lift-off, by which point the autopilot
camera has scrolled the enemy under the player. The first jump
fires on Playing frame 1 and stomps enemy 1 on frame 22; the
second fires on Playing frame 101 and stomps enemy 2 on frame
122. After that the autopilot is exhausted and the third enemy
encounter (camera wraps back past enemy 1) is fatal — the
golden harness now sees the full stomp, stomp, die, retry, stomp
loop instead of a frozen walk.
- Live HUD: up to four coin sprites in the top-left, one per
stomp, rendered both during `Playing` and on the `GameOver`
screen so the score is visible in the death frame. `Playing`'s
player draw is now guarded by `if alive == 1` so the hero
disappears on the fatal-contact frame and the enemy that killed
them is visible underneath.
Verified with a per-frame ZP trace through the patched puppeteer
+ jsnes harness: first stomp at emu frame 44 (camera_x=22), second
at emu frame 144 (camera_x=122), death at emu frame 283 (camera_x=5
after a 256-px wrap), `Playing` restart at emu frame 343, third
stomp at emu frame 365. All 22 emulator goldens still match after
the update, and `docs/platformer.gif` regenerated from the new ROM
now shows two clean stomps, a clean side-collision death, the
GameOver screen, and the retry cycle all inside the 6-second demo
window.
Golden updates:
- `tests/emulator/goldens/platformer.png` — the frame-180 capture
now shows the hero walking forward with a two-coin HUD after
both autopilot stomps (previously: a frozen bouncing hero).
- `tests/emulator/goldens/platformer.audio.hash` — the track now
includes two `Boing` stomp bounces, which shifts the hash.
- `examples/platformer.nes` — rebuilt from the rewritten source.
Also updates the platformer rows in `README.md` and
`examples/README.md` to match the new gameplay.
https://claude.ai/code/session_013Bi4H4YQ5or5HtMB4doUFi
Rewrites every example with non-trivial asset declarations to use
the pleasant QoL syntax introduced in the previous commit. Every
example still compiles to a byte-identical ROM (verified by a
temp-path diff before committing), so the committed `.nes` files
and the 23 emulator goldens are unchanged.
* platformer.ne — the centerpiece end-to-end demo:
- `palette Main` goes to grouped form with a shared
`universal: 0x22` (sky blue), one shared colour per
sub-palette, and named NES colours throughout; the
long-standing `$3F10` mirror-trap warning is now handled
by the parser and the manual pitfall comment is gone.
- `sprite Tileset` is 15 tiles of ASCII pixel art instead
of 240 bytes of inline hex.
- `background Level` uses a `legend { '.': 15, '#': 9, ... }`
block plus `map:` strings for the 32×30 nametable, and
`palette_map:` rows for the attribute table. The map
reads top-down like the rendered screen.
- SFX latch-once `pitch: 0x30` scalars + `envelope:` alias.
- `music Theme` uses note names + `tempo: 10` default.
* audio_demo.ne — scalar sfx pitches, `envelope:` alias, and a
note-name `C4, E4, G4, ...` music track.
* palette_and_background.ne — grouped CoolBlues / WarmReds
palettes with `universal: black` + named colours, plus
`legend` + `map:` tilemaps for the two backgrounds.
* sprites_and_palettes.ne — Arrow and Heart sprites rewritten
as `pixels:` ASCII art.
Along the way, two small parser extensions support the rewrites:
- `parse_pixel_art` now accepts `a/b/c` as aliases for `#/%/@`,
matching the vocabulary every NES editor (and our own
gen_platformer_tiles.rs generator) uses.
- `palette_map_to_attrs` allows up to 16 metatile rows (the
full attribute-table coverage, including the off-screen
bottom half) and auto-replicates row 14 → row 15 when only
15 rows are supplied so the visible bottom of the screen
gets consistent sub-palette assignments by default. The old
15-row cap couldn't match a hand-packed `0xAA` attribute
table for the last row; the platformer required this to
stay byte-identical.
`scripts/gen_platformer_tiles.rs` is updated to emit the new
syntax directly (pixel-art `pixels:` block + `legend`/`map:`/
`palette_map:` for the background), so regenerating the
platformer tiles stays a one-liner.
474 lib tests + 64 integration tests pass (3 new parser tests
for `palette_map:` 15/16/17 rows and the `abc` alias). All 23
emulator goldens still match pixel- and sample-for-sample.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01PzaSFj3VahDzxEYTKCESkz
The optimizer fix in the previous commit changes the observable
gameplay of `examples/platformer.ne` — pre-fix the player got
spurious enemy-1 stomp bounces every time coin 2 drifted into its
pickup window, so the README demo gif showed the player bouncing
mid-air around emu frames 85-125 instead of walking through the
coin at ground level. Regenerate `docs/platformer.gif` from the
fixed compiler so the README matches reality.
To stop this from drifting again, treat the gif the same way the
repo already treats `examples/*.nes`:
- `gifenc` + `jsnes` + the harness are deterministic, so a fresh
recording byte-matches a valid commit. Verified across two
back-to-back runs (identical md5).
- `.github/workflows/ci.yml`'s `emulator` job now renders the gif
into `/tmp/platformer.gif` and `cmp`s it against `docs/platformer.gif`,
emitting a `::error` annotation pointing at the exact rerun
command if the committed copy is stale. This piggybacks on the
existing puppeteer + node setup, adding ~20s to the job.
- `scripts/pre-commit` runs the same check locally, but only when
`examples/platformer.{ne,nes}`, `tests/emulator/record_gif.mjs`,
or `tests/emulator/harness.html` is staged, and only if
`tests/emulator/node_modules` is already installed. Cold-start
puppeteer is ~20s — too slow to pay on every commit, but cheap
enough to pay when something gif-relevant changed.
- The header of `tests/emulator/record_gif.mjs` and the project
conventions section of `CLAUDE.md` both spell out the rerun
command and the invariant, so the next agent doesn't have to
re-derive any of this.
https://claude.ai/code/session_013Bi4H4YQ5or5HtMB4doUFi
Adds six NES-friendly authoring shortcuts so programs don't have to
hand-pack hex bytes for every kind of art asset. Every new syntax is
strictly additive — existing examples keep their byte-identical ROMs
and goldens.
* palette: ~50 named NES colours (`black`, `sky_blue`, `dk_red`, …)
usable anywhere a colour byte is expected, plus a grouped-form
`bg0..sp3` + `universal:` shape that auto-fills every sub-
palette's first byte (fixing the `$3F10` mirror trap).
* sprite: `pixels:` ASCII-art alternative to 16-byte CHR, supporting
multi-tile sprites split in row-major reading order.
* sfx: scalar `pitch:` matching the v1 driver's latch-once behaviour,
plus `envelope:` as a friendlier alias for `volume:`.
* music: `tempo:` default duration + note-name notes (`C4, Eb4,
rest 10`) alongside the existing `pitch, duration` pair form.
* background: `legend { '.': 0, '#': 1 }` + `map:` string rows,
plus `palette_map:` grids that auto-pack the 64-byte attribute
table from 16×15 sub-palette digits.
A new `examples/friendly_assets.ne` exercises every shortcut at once
with a matching pixel + audio golden; the other 22 golden tests still
match byte-for-byte.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01PzaSFj3VahDzxEYTKCESkz
Adds `examples/platformer.ne`, a full side-scrolling game that
exercises nearly every subsystem of the compiler in one program:
custom CHR tileset, 32×30 background nametable with per-region
attribute palettes, 2×2 metasprite hero with gravity/jump physics,
wrap-around horizontal scrolling, moving enemies, coin pickups,
user-declared SFX + music, and a Title → Playing state machine
with autopilot so the headless jsnes harness captures real
gameplay at frame 180. Tile art + nametable are generated by
`scripts/gen_platformer_tiles.rs` (`cargo run --bin gen_platformer_tiles`).
Building this out uncovered three independent runtime bugs that
together made the example render as black-on-black smileys. All
three are fixed in this commit:
1. **`gen_init` enabled sprite rendering before the linker's
initial palette/background load runs.** The PPU's v-register
auto-increments on every `$2007` write *during active
rendering*, so the palette load (32 B) and nametable load
(1024 B) were scrambled past the first ~72 bytes — every
existing program with a `background Level { ... }` block was
silently rendering zero-filled VRAM. Fix: leave `PPU_MASK = 0`
at the end of `gen_init` and emit a new `gen_enable_rendering`
call *after* all initial VRAM writes complete.
2. **Audio tick corrupted `ZP_CURRENT_STATE`.** The audio
driver's period-table lookup reused `$02/$03` as a temporary
indirect pointer with a comment claiming the slots were free
because the tick doesn't call mul/div. But `$03` is also
`ZP_CURRENT_STATE` used by the state dispatch loop, so every
music note silently overwrote the state index with the high
byte of `__period_table` (`0xC5` in the platformer ROM),
wedging the state machine forever. Fix: `gen_nmi` now PHAs
`$02/$03` on entry and PLA-restores them on exit, and the
audio tick JSR moves inside that save/restore window (it used
to be spliced by the linker *before* the register saves, so
even A/X/Y were technically being trashed pre-save). Only
`audio_demo`'s audio hash shifts (its note timings move a few
cycles); every other golden is unchanged.
3. **Sub-palette mirroring footgun.** Writing a 32-byte palette
blob sequentially causes the sprite sub-palettes' "index 0"
slots at `$3F10/$3F14/$3F18/$3F1C` to clobber the background
universal colour at `$3F00/$3F04/$3F08/$3F0C` via NES hardware
mirroring. The example's palette sets all eight first bytes
to `$22` (sky blue) for this reason; `docs/future-work.md`
picks up a TODO to warn on inconsistent first-byte values in
the analyzer.
Also:
- `docs/platformer.gif` — 6-second recording of the example
running in jsnes, generated by the new
`tests/emulator/record_gif.mjs` puppeteer helper (encodes via
`gifenc`, committed as a dev-dependency under
`tests/emulator/package.json`).
- README / examples/README tables and the 497-test count are
updated to cover the new example.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01BcCcHi6FUmTh8jC7UgkA3A
Re-adds `palette Name { colors: [...] }` and
`background Name { tiles: [...], attributes: [...] }` as first-class
declarations, plus `set_palette Name` and `load_background Name`
statements for runtime swaps. Unlike the previous iteration that
quietly no-op'd, this one is fully wired through the pipeline and
its behavior is pinned by both unit tests and an emulator golden.
Pipeline:
- Lexer: re-adds `palette`, `background`, `set_palette`,
`load_background` keywords and tokenizes them.
- AST: `PaletteDecl` (name + 1..=32 colour bytes) and `BackgroundDecl`
(name + 0..=960 tile bytes + 0..=64 attribute bytes) live in
`Program`. `Statement::SetPalette` and `Statement::LoadBackground`
name-reference these declarations.
- Parser: `palette Name { colors: [...] }` / `background Name
{ tiles: [...], attributes: [...] }` blocks and their statement
forms parse via the existing byte-array helper.
- Analyzer: validates colour indices ($00-$3F), palette length
(<=32), nametable length (<=960), attribute length (<=64), and
duplicate decl names. `set_palette` / `load_background` targets
must reference a declared name (E0502 otherwise). When a program
declares palette or background, the analyzer bumps the user
zero-page allocator's starting address from `$10` to `$18` to
reserve `$11-$17` for the runtime update handshake — programs
that don't use the feature keep the old layout so their emulator
goldens stay byte-exact.
- Assets: `PaletteData` and `BackgroundData` resolve declarations
into zero-padded fixed-size blobs (32 / 960 / 64 bytes) and
expose `label()` / `tiles_label()` / `attrs_label()` for codegen
to reference.
- IR: new `IrOp::SetPalette(String)` and
`IrOp::LoadBackground(String)`; lowering forwards the names
verbatim.
- Codegen: `gen_set_palette` writes the palette label pointer into
ZP `$12/$13` and ORs bit 0 into the update flags at `$11`;
`gen_load_background` does the same for tile/attribute pointers
at `$14/$15/$16/$17` with bit 1. Both emit a `__ppu_update_used`
marker so the linker splices in the NMI apply helper only when
the feature is actually used.
- Runtime: `gen_initial_palette_load` and
`gen_initial_background_load` write the first declared
palette/background at reset time (before rendering is enabled,
where PPU writes are safe). `gen_nmi(has_ppu_updates)` takes a
new flag; when true it splices `gen_ppu_update_apply` at the top
of the NMI body, which checks the `$11` flags byte and copies
pending palette / nametable data to `$3F00` / `$2000` inside
vblank. All helpers use only ZP $02/$03 as scratch at reset time
and never clobber ZP slots live across NMI.
- Linker: new `link_banked_with_ppu` takes slice of `PaletteData` /
`BackgroundData`; splices each blob as a labelled data block in
PRG ROM, picks the first-declared as the reset-time load target,
enables background rendering automatically when a background is
declared, and threads `has_ppu_updates` into `gen_nmi`. Old
`link_banked` remains as a thin wrapper for callers without
palette/background data so existing tests don't shift.
Tests:
- Lexer: tokenization of the 4 new keywords (single added test case).
- Parser: 5 new tests for `palette` / `background` decls with and
without attributes, plus `set_palette` / `load_background`
statements.
- Analyzer: 9 new tests covering acceptance of declared
palettes/backgrounds, E0502 for unknown names, E0201 for
out-of-range NES colors and oversized blobs, E0501 for duplicate
names, and the zero-page-layout guard (palette/bg decls bump ZP
start; no decls keeps it at $10).
- Resolver: 3 new tests for zero-padding, truncation of oversized
decls, and label derivation.
- IR: 2 new lowering tests for `set_palette` and `load_background`.
- Integration: 5 new tests — blob contents spliced verbatim into
PRG, `STA $12` / `STA $14` emitted by set_palette /
load_background codegen, and a regression guard that programs
without palette/background still land user vars at $10.
- Emulator: new `examples/palette_and_background.ne` driven by a
frame counter that toggles between `CoolBlues` / `WarmReds` and
`TitleScreen` / `StageOne` every 90 frames. Golden PNG and audio
hash checked in under `tests/emulator/goldens/` and verified via
`node run_examples.mjs` — rendered image shows the blue
`CoolBlues` palette with the nametable populated from
`TitleScreen`.
Docs:
- `README.md` adds the feature to the headline list and the example
table.
- `docs/language-guide.md` restores the palette/background sections
with the full 32-byte layout table and `set_palette` /
`load_background` statement references.
- `docs/future-work.md` replaces the "removed as dead code" entry
with the remaining gaps (PNG-sourced palette and nametable
assets, cross-vblank large background updates, memory-map
reporting).
- `spec.md` restores the grammar productions and usage examples.
- `examples/README.md` lists the new demo.
All 497 unit + integration tests pass. Clippy clean. All 21
emulator goldens match after the update pass.
https://claude.ai/code/session_012fKB251HvEUQwG3tizFyqt
Two correctness bugs were silently producing wrong ROMs:
- `x << n` / `x >> n` always shifted by 1, regardless of `n`, because
the IR lowering for `BinOp::ShiftLeft`/`ShiftRight` hardcoded the
count. Now eval_const the RHS into a compile-time count; fall back
to a new `IrOp::ShiftLeftVar` / `ShiftRightVar` (runtime loop) when
the amount isn't constant. Strength reduction folds the variable
form back to a fixed count once the optimizer knows the value.
- `x / n` / `x % n` always returned 0, because the lowering emitted
`LoadImm(t, 0)` for `BinOp::Div`/`Mod` with a comment saying the
runtime call was "TODO for now". Added real `IrOp::Div` and
`IrOp::Mod`, wired them through use-counting and DCE, gave codegen
`__divide`-based implementations, and taught strength reduction to
rewrite power-of-two divisors into shifts and modulo-by-2ⁿ into
AND masks. Constant folding now handles `Mul`/`Div`/`Mod`/shifts
too, which were previously left for the codegen to emit inefficient
software calls.
Dead code removed (no backward-compat shims kept):
- `src/debug/` entirely. `DebugSymbols`, `SourceMap`, and the
Mesen/.sym emitters had no callers outside their own tests;
`main.rs` never wrote a symbol file. Documented the intent in
`docs/future-work.md` so it comes back intentionally if needed.
- `ErrorCode::E0202` (invalid cast) and `E0403` (unreachable state):
defined, formatted, and marked `#[allow(dead_code)]` but never
emitted. W0104 now carries the unreachable-state semantics too.
- `Level::Info`: never constructed.
- `load_background` / `set_palette` statements and their
`BackgroundDecl` / `PaletteDecl` parser support: parsed and
silently dropped by IR lowering (`// TODO: implement in asset
pipeline`). Removed keywords, AST variants, parser paths, analyzer
arms, and tests. `docs/future-work.md` documents the runtime
palette/nametable design for when it comes back.
Doc cleanup:
- `docs/architecture.md` was describing files that don't exist
(`analyzer/types.rs`, `optimizer/const_fold.rs`, `codegen/regalloc.rs`,
`rom/header.rs`, `debug/symbols.rs`, …). Rewrote it to match the
real flat `mod.rs` + `tests.rs` layout and the real pipeline order.
- `docs/future-work.md` was a hybrid of open work and "recently
completed" entries that duplicated the active stubs at the top of
the file. Collapsed to just the gaps that are actually still open.
- `README.md` claimed Mesen symbol export and 210 tests; updated both.
- `docs/language-guide.md` and `spec.md` described `palette` decls,
`set_palette` / `load_background`, `debug.overlay`, and error codes
that were never emitted. Trimmed.
- Stale comments on `Statement::Play`/`StartMusic`/`StopMusic`
claimed the audio subsystem was "a no-op at codegen time".
Tests:
- Regression tests for every fix above (`lower_shift_left_with_literal
_count_uses_that_count`, `lower_shift_right_with_variable_count
_uses_runtime_variant`, `lower_divide_emits_div_op_not_load_imm
_zero`, `lower_modulo_emits_mod_op_not_load_imm_zero`,
`strength_reduce_div_by_power_of_two`, `strength_reduce_mod_by
_power_of_two`, `strength_reduce_shift_var_with_constant_amount`).
- Renamed the `program_with_sprites_and_palette` integration test
(which was exercising the now-removed `load_background`/`set_palette`)
to `program_with_inline_sprite_chr`.
`examples/sprites_and_palettes.ne` lost its `palette`/`set_palette`
usage. Nothing in the emulator test presses A, so the headless
jsnes render shouldn't move, but the golden may need regeneration
via `UPDATE_GOLDENS=1` if it does.
https://claude.ai/code/session_012fKB251HvEUQwG3tizFyqt
The audio subsystem was a sketch: `play name` / `start_music name` /
`stop_music` parsed, lowered, and emitted a few hardcoded register
writes from a builtin name table. No user-declared effects, no
per-frame envelope, no note streams, no real engine.
This flesh-out brings audio up to the quality bar of the rest of
the compiler (sprites, palettes, bank switching, scanline IRQ,
etc.) with a full data-driven pipeline:
## Asset pipeline (new `src/assets/audio.rs`)
- `sfx Name { duty, pitch, volume }` blocks compile into per-frame
pulse-1 envelopes. Pitch/volume arrays must match in length; each
entry is one NMI's worth of `$4000` data.
- `music Name { duty, volume, repeat, notes }` blocks compile into
flat `(pitch, duration)` streams for pulse 2. Pitch 0 is a rest,
1-60 indexes a builtin period table covering C1-B5.
- `resolve_sfx` / `resolve_music` walk the program for `play` /
`start_music` references and append builtin fallbacks for any
name that isn't user-declared — so `play coin` still works
without a `sfx Coin { ... }` block.
- Builtin effects (coin, jump, hit, click, cancel, shoot, step)
and tracks (theme, battle, victory, gameover) synthesize through
the same compile path as user decls — one data model, one driver.
## Runtime engine (`src/runtime/mod.rs`)
- `gen_audio_tick()` walks both channels every NMI: reads one
envelope byte through `(ZP_SFX_PTR),Y` -> writes `$4000`,
advances ptr, mutes on zero sentinel. Music decrements the note
counter, advances to the next `(pitch, dur)` pair on zero, looks
up the period through `(__period_table),Y`, loops on `0xFF 0xFF`.
- `gen_period_table()` emits a 60-entry equal-tempered table
(A4 = 440 Hz, NTSC 1.789773 MHz CPU clock) with length-counter
load bits pre-baked into each high byte.
- `gen_data_block()` emits a label + raw-bytes pseudo pair so
user sfx/music data can be spliced into PRG with regular labels
that the two-pass assembler resolves.
- New ZP layout: `$05/$06` music loop base, `$07` music state
(duty/volume/loop/active), `$0C-$0F` sfx and music pointers.
## IR codegen (`src/codegen/ir_codegen.rs`)
- `with_audio(sfx, music)` registers compile-time trigger constants
per blob name.
- `gen_play_sfx` emits: write period to `$4002`/`$4003`, load
envelope pointer into `ZP_SFX_PTR` via SymbolLo/SymbolHi of
`__sfx_<name>`, mark the sfx counter active.
- `gen_start_music` stamps the header byte into `ZP_MUSIC_STATE`
with the active bit OR'd in, seeds both ptr and loop base from
`__music_<name>`, primes the duration counter.
- `gen_stop_music` mutes pulse 2 and clears state.
## Linker (`src/linker/mod.rs`)
- New `link_with_all_assets(user_code, sprites, sfx, music)` path
that splices driver body, period table, and each sfx/music data
blob into PRG — all guarded on the `__audio_used` marker so
silent programs pay zero ROM cost.
## Assembler (`src/asm/opcodes.rs`, `src/asm/mod.rs`)
- New `AddressingMode::Bytes(Vec<u8>)` variant for raw-data
pseudo-instructions. `NOP+Bytes(v)` emits the payload verbatim,
letting the linker splice ROM data tables into a code section
and still have `Label` / `SymbolLo` / `SymbolHi` fixups resolve
correctly in the same assembly pass.
## Analyzer
- `play` / `start_music` now validate the name against user decls
and builtin tables. Unknown names emit E0505 with a helpful list
of builtins — previously a typo would silently compile to no-op.
## Parser
- New `sfx_decl` / `music_decl` grammar with property-style
configuration. Strict validation: duty 0-3, volume 0-15, pitch
arrays must match volume length, music notes must come in pairs,
pitch 0-60, duration ≥ 1.
## Tests
+170 new tests across every layer:
- `src/assets/audio.rs`: 17 tests (compile, resolve, builtins,
shadowing, label sanitation, nested reference walks)
- `src/parser/tests.rs`: 13 tests (valid/invalid sfx + music
declarations, property validation, play/start_music/stop_music)
- `src/analyzer/tests.rs`: 7 tests (builtin acceptance, user decl
acceptance, unknown-name rejection)
- `src/runtime/tests.rs`: 10 tests (audio tick labels, RTS end,
$4000 write, $4004 mute, period table assembly, A4 = 440 Hz,
length counter bits, data block verbatim emit)
- `src/linker/tests.rs`: 4 tests (sfx/music blob placement,
pointer resolution, elision when unused)
- `src/codegen/ir_codegen.rs`: rewrote the 4 existing audio tests
to match the new data-driven contract
- `tests/integration_test.rs`: 4 end-to-end tests including a
user-declared `sfx` + `music` program that verifies bytes land
in PRG ROM at the right addresses
## Docs
- New Audio section in `docs/language-guide.md` with syntax
reference, builtin tables, and an explanation of how the
driver works at compile and run time.
- `docs/architecture.md` updated to reflect the real audio
pipeline instead of the old "audio import stubs" stub.
- `docs/future-work.md` moves audio from "status: minimal" to
"status: full subsystem" with a narrower list of follow-up work
(triangle/noise/DMC channels, NSF/FTM imports, richer envelopes).
- `examples/audio_demo.ne` rewritten to showcase user-declared
`sfx LongCoin`, `sfx Zap`, `music Theme`, still demonstrating
builtin fallback via `play coin`.
Total: 424 tests passing (381 unit + 43 integration), clippy clean,
fmt clean, all 19 examples compile.
https://claude.ai/code/session_015WfaDttE3DpWn9rpyfpQd8
Five language features and optimizations from the planned-work backlog:
- **Minimal audio driver**: `play`/`start_music`/`stop_music` now generate
APU pulse-1/pulse-2 writes from a builtin SFX/music name table, and
the NMI handler gains a `JSR __audio_tick` splice (via the linker's
`__audio_used` marker lookup) that ages an SFX countdown counter and
mutes pulse 1 when the tone expires. Programs that never trigger
audio pay zero ROM cost.
- **u16 arithmetic and comparisons**: new IR ops `LoadVarHi`, `StoreVarHi`,
`Add16`, `Sub16`, and six `Cmp*16` variants. The lowering context
tracks variable types via the analyzer's symbol table and routes
expressions through the 8-bit or 16-bit path based on operand width.
Add16 emits `CLC;ADC;ADC` with carry propagating naturally into the
high byte; compares dispatch high-byte-first with a short-circuit
low-byte fallback. Fixes a silent miscompile where `big += 1` on a
u16 var only incremented the low byte.
- **Multi-scanline handlers per state**: `gen_scanline_irq` now
dispatches on `(current_state, ZP_SCANLINE_STEP)` and reloads the
MMC3 counter with the delta to the next scanline in the same state.
`gen_scanline_reload` resets the step counter at the top of each
NMI so a state with multiple handlers fires them in ascending line
order. Previously only the first handler per state ever fired.
- **IR temp slot recycling**: `build_use_counts` pre-scans each
function to count per-temp uses; `retire_op_sources` decrements
the counts after each op and pushes dead slots back onto
`free_slots` for later allocation. `bitwise_ops.ne` used to crash
(debug) or miscompile (release) once it hit 128 concurrent temps;
with recycling the same function now uses ~4 slots instead of 136.
- **INC/DEC peephole fold + improved dead-load elimination**:
`fold_inc_dec` collapses `LDA addr; CLC; ADC #1; STA addr` into
a single `INC addr` (and the SEC/SBC variant into `DEC addr`),
saving 5 bytes and 5 cycles per increment. The fold is suppressed
when the next instruction reads carry. `remove_dead_loads` now
walks past INC/DEC/STX/STY (which don't touch A) to find the
actual next A-use, catching more dead loads.
Tests: 331 unit + 39 integration (up from 313 + 37), including new
guards for audio, u16, multi-scanline, and slot recycling.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01A8qk3gw2jWSzdiXBZPZSFE
Fallout from removing the `--use-ast` flag and the AST codegen.
Four references in `docs/future-work.md` and one in `plan.md` were
still implying a parallel AST code path existed:
- `future-work.md` "--debug CLI flag wired" entry — said the flag
threads through `CodeGen::with_debug` (the old AST codegen's
builder). Updated to `IrCodeGen::with_debug`.
- `future-work.md` IR debug.log/assert entry — had a parenthetical
"(same behavior as AST codegen)" that no longer makes sense
without an AST codegen to compare against. Dropped.
- `future-work.md` inline assembly entry — said "Both IR and AST
codegen splice parsed instructions directly into the output
stream." There's only the IR codegen now. Updated.
- `future-work.md` `on scanline(N)` entry — described scanline
handling as "codegen (MMC3 IRQ vector wiring) is still TODO."
That wiring has been in place for a while: the IR codegen
emits `__irq_user` + `__ir_mmc3_reload` with per-state
dispatch, and `examples/scanline_split.ne` and
`examples/mmc3_per_state_split.ne` both exercise it in the
jsnes smoke test. Rewrote the entry to match reality.
- `plan.md` M2 "Compiler phases built" list — had "Codegen from
IR (replacing direct AST codegen)." The present-tense
parenthetical read as if AST codegen still existed; stripped
it. M1's "direct AST → 6502, skip IR for this milestone" line
is left as a historical milestone scope description.
One intentional mention remains: `future-work.md` "Recently
completed" bullet explicitly notes the AST-based path and the
`--use-ast` flag were removed. That's the correct tombstone.
https://claude.ai/code/session_014Z5y3Q9krLcAxYpZQJhZ5V
The `--use-ast` path through `src/codegen/mod.rs` was a strictly
inferior subset of the IR codegen. Building every example with
`--use-ast` through the jsnes harness:
- `arrays_and_functions` — fully black (array init + function
return values + OAM-in-loop all broken)
- `structs_enums_for` — fully black (struct literal is a no-op,
all fields stay at 0)
- `inline_asm_demo` — fully black
- `bitwise_ops`, `loop_break_continue` — below sprite floors
(static `next_oam_slot` bug B)
- `match_demo` — panics at compile time with
`branch offset 153 out of range` (AST's if/else-chain
desugaring of `match` emits short branches that can't reach
the far arms in a multi-arm match)
Six of fourteen examples are non-functional under `--use-ast`.
The other eight happen to fall inside the subset AST handles
(no arrays, no structs, no function return values, no
multi-sprite loops, no long match chains).
`docs/future-work.md` already listed "Once working, delete the
AST-based codegen entirely" as the intended direction. It's
working, so this commit does the deletion.
What's removed:
- The `CodeGen` struct, its impl block, and every helper in
`src/codegen/mod.rs` (the AST codegen body) — ~1150 lines.
The file is now a module header that re-exports `IrCodeGen`.
- `src/codegen/tests.rs` — 15 AST-specific instruction-pattern
tests. Every feature they covered has an equivalent test in
`src/codegen/ir_codegen.rs::{tests,more_tests}` already.
- The `--use-ast` CLI flag and its branch in `src/main.rs`.
- `compile_with_ir_codegen` in `tests/integration_test.rs` —
`compile()` now does what it did, so they merged. All 40
integration tests go through the IR path.
- Outdated sections in `docs/future-work.md` that described the
IR codegen as "not yet implemented" and listed AST codegen
gaps as priority work.
What's kept:
- `src/codegen/ir_codegen.rs` — the real codegen.
- `src/codegen/peephole.rs` — post-codegen cleanup pass, now
run unconditionally from `main.rs`.
Test plan:
- `cargo test --release` — 313 unit + 37 integration tests pass
(was 328 + 37; the 15 dropped are the deleted AST-specific
tests).
- `cargo fmt --check` clean.
- `cargo clippy --release --all-targets -- -D warnings` clean.
- `node tests/emulator/run_examples.mjs` — 14/14 ROMs render
above their per-example nonBlack floors.
- The one tightening: `sprite_resolution_uses_tile_index` was
asserting on the old static-slot encoding
(`A9 01 8D 01 02`). Updated to the cursor-based form
(`A9 01 99 01 02`, i.e. STA AbsoluteY).
Net diff: 1581 deletions, 62 insertions.
https://claude.ai/code/session_014Z5y3Q9krLcAxYpZQJhZ5V
Prints a tree view of every function/handler and its direct
callees, plus the max call depth reached from each state-handler
entry point. Useful for stack-budget investigation since the NES
has only 256 bytes of stack.
=== Call Graph (max depth: 2 / 8) ===
Main::frame (max depth 2)
├── clamp
├── clamp
└── check_collision
check_collision
├── abs_diff
└── abs_diff
abs_diff
└── (leaf)
clamp
└── (leaf)
Max-depth labels are only shown on entry points where the analyzer
has computed a depth; transitive callees print without a label so
the output isn't confusing.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
Dumps a human-readable table of variable allocations sorted by
address, separated into zero-page and main RAM sections with a
final byte-usage summary. Struct fields show up as individual
entries under their synthetic \`var.field\` names.
Example output for examples/structs_enums_for.ne:
=== NEScript Memory Map ===
Zero Page (\$00-\$FF):
\$00-\$0F [SYSTEM] reserved (frame flag, input, state, params, scratch)
\$0010 [USER] enemy_y (u8)
\$0011 [USER] i (u8)
RAM (\$0200-\$07FF):
\$0200-\$02FF [SYSTEM] OAM shadow buffer
\$0300 [USER] player.x (u8)
\$0301 [USER] player.y (u8)
\$0302 [USER] player.vx (u8)
...
Zero Page: 2/128 bytes used
Main RAM: 11/1280 bytes used
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
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
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
Lists structs, for loops, audio parsing, const folding, on_scanline
codegen, all new peephole passes, and the fixed function call ABI /
local variable allocation. Re-prioritizes remaining work.
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
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
The IR-based codegen now matches all features of the AST codegen
(state dispatch, multi-OAM, P1/P2 input, scroll, debug.log/assert),
so flip the default. The legacy AST codegen is still available via
--use-ast for comparison and fallback during validation.
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
resolve_sprites() now handles all three AssetSource variants:
- Inline(bytes): use directly (existing behavior)
- Binary(path): read raw bytes from file relative to source_dir
- Chr(path): convert PNG to CHR via png_to_chr()
Missing files are silently skipped rather than erroring, so
declarations can reference assets that haven't been added yet.
This keeps existing tests that use placeholder file paths working.
Updated future-work.md: moved include directive, P2 controller,
sprite resolution, shift-assign, debug statements, warnings, and
asset wiring to the "completed" section. Remaining work is IR codegen,
audio, on_scanline, and language features (structs/enums).
Tests: 257 total (3 new resolve_sprites tests)
https://claude.ai/code/session_01W6eQFStA66EuMKHUFo2rx3
