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Machine

中文 | Machine

Machine is a compiled systems language project implemented in C17. The current compiler front-end reads .mne source, performs lexical analysis, parsing, semantic checks, and then emits either generated C or x86_64 assembly depending on the selected backend. The generated output is then compiled or linked into the final program.

Quick links

Build and install

Requirements

On Fedora/RHEL/CentOS:

sudo dnf install -y gcc make SDL2-devel SDL2_image-devel nasm

On Debian/Ubuntu/Kali：

sudo apt install -y gcc make libsdl2-dev libsdl2-image-dev nasm

On ArchLinux/Manjaro：

sudo pacman -S gcc make sdl2-compat sdl2_image nasm

For other distributions, manually compile and install dependencies：

gcc make SDL2 SDL2-Image nasm

Window, image, and related hosted runtime features depend on SDL2 and SDL2_image being available when the hosted runtime object is built.

Build the compiler

make Compilation

This produces:

  • ./machine
  • build/machine_runtime.o

Clean build outputs

make clean

Install

sudo make install

The install target now installs:

  • the machine compiler
  • hosted, freestanding, and baremetal runtime support files
  • Vim syntax files for .mne
  • bundled example .mne programs
  • project documentation, including the directive guide

Uninstall

sudo make uninstall

Compiler usage

Show help

./machine --help

Show version

./machine --version

Compile a Machine program

./machine path/to/file.mne -o output_name

Example:

./machine test/struct.mne -o struct

What kind of language is Machine?

Machine is a compiled language implementation.

More precisely:

  • the compiler front-end is written in C17
  • Machine source can be lowered to generated C or x86_64 assembly
  • the selected backend is then compiled or linked into a native output
  • the result is a native executable or baremetal ELF, depending on the selected target

So Machine is not an interpreter, and it is not a mixed interpreter/JIT runtime.

Runtime discovery with bin.runtime

When the first meaningful line of a source file is:

bin.runtime

the compiler switches runtime discovery into installation/project mode. It will try, in order:

  1. /usr/local/lib/machine/machine_runtime.o + /usr/local/include/machine/machine_runtime.h
  2. a project-local build/ runtime bundle next to the .mne file
  3. a project-local runtime bundle in the project root
  4. current-working-directory fallback copies

This allows application projects to compile without manually copying runtime files into every project directory.

Current source tree

MachinePrograms/
├── Compilation/                # CLI entry points and command handling
├── include/                    # public and internal headers
├── src/                        # compiler and runtime implementation
├── test/                       # bundled example and test .mne programs
├── vim/                        # Vim syntax, ftdetect, and ftplugin files
├── build/                      # generated runtime object and other build outputs
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── README.zh-CN.md
├── use_order.md
├── use_order.zh-CN.md
├── Makefile
└── m.sh

Major modules

  • lexer: tokenization of Machine source
  • parser: expressions, statements, top-level declarations, and directives
  • semantic analysis: symbol resolution, type checks, and diagnostics
  • C backend: emits generated C
  • x86_64 asm backend: emits GNU-style x86_64 assembly
  • runtime layers:
    • runtime.c for Linux hosted programs
    • runtime_freestanding.c + entry assembly for freestanding targets
    • runtime_baremetal.c + entry assembly + linker script for baremetal targets
  • CLI: command-line parsing, backend/target selection, final compilation pipeline

Indentation rules

Machine accepts both 2-space and 4-space block indentation. A file may mix them across different blocks. Each nested block may increase indentation by either 2 or 4 spaces, and dedents must return to a previously established indentation column.

Vim syntax highlighting

For a user-local install:

make vim-install

For a system-wide install, sudo make install now also installs the syntax files into a system Vim runtime location.

Example and documentation install layout

After sudo make install, these locations are populated:

  • /usr/local/bin/machine
  • /usr/local/lib/machine/
  • /usr/local/include/machine/
  • /usr/local/share/machine/examples/
  • /usr/local/share/doc/machine/
  • /usr/local/share/vim/vimfiles/

This project involved the use of the AI ​​tool ChatGPT 5.4 MikuTrive assisted in the development of this Machine programming language project.

Thanks to the contributors

@ellelkktrraaa

License

Machine is distributed under GPL-3.0. See LICENSE.