CASIO ASM

What is this?

This is a language, assembler and interpreter designed to run on the CASIO calculators and computer alike.
This language is meant to be assembled, not compiled, and can be assembled on the computer or the calculator.

Does it work?

Yes! Even though not everything works, it compiles and runs successfully with a few missing features.

Things that work:

• cross-platform support
• the assembler
• basic arithmetic operation
• the docs, I hope

Things that partially work:

• the file support
  ..* some problems with files opened RW
• the keyboard
  ..* on calculator, it is working, except the AC key
  ..* on PC, only EXE, EXIT and the arrow keys work
• the graphical library
  ..* lines and rectangles work
  ..* circles are glitchy if you use XOR mode
  ..* structural changes are to come
• the interpreter
  ..* crashes after three program runs on calculator, but you can exit and re-open the addin
  ..* missing some instructions

Things to rework:

• the licence, I'd like to put it under MIT or GPL, but for now, no licence
  ..* and if anyone has a better idea, tell me
• this file, README.md
  ..* may not be up to date, like at all
• the interrupt system
  ..* getting an interrupt while in the interrupt handler sometimes crashes
• the build system
  ..* seriously, make clean all the time to make it work?
• the addin icon
• the addin loader
  ..* and the linker script
  ..* because I can't declare a char[3] without crashing
  ..* nor can I use static int i=3, as it will be set to 0x55555555 instead
• the code, in general
  ..* no, seriously, I wanted it to run, and now it's a mess

Things that don't work at all:

• timers
• Gint support
  ..* but it will be so much cleaner when I get it to work!
• Windows support
  ..* missing file lib, so no programs to load, much less execute
  ..* but probably works on Cygwin and WSL

The syntax

A program is a list of instructions separated by a newline, and the file MUST end with a newline.
Whitespace characters are omitted between instructions.
An instruction can be either:

1. A mnemonic
2. A mnemonic and arguments
3. A label
4. A comment

Labels start with a dot and may not be longer than 20 characters. They may contain alphanumeric characters and underscores, but may not start with a number.
Mnemonics are listed in data/opcode.list along with their description.
Comments start with a quote (single or double) or a pipe, and are ignored entirely.
Mnemonics and arguments are to be separated by comas or semicolons.

The processor

The interpreter acts like a 32-bit big-endian processor capable of handling integral values int and decimal values float.
This processor has 256 32-bit registers, #00 to #ff which can hold either a float or an int.
Care must be taken by the user not to operate on the wrong data type, as the processor itself doesn't know what type of data is stored in the registers.
This emulated processor stores its program counter PC in register #00, which should not be written directly.

The stack

This processor is attached to a stack which is where arguments are taken when not directly supplied, and where the return values are pushed.
This stack can contain up to 256 values, and will silently ignore illegal push or pop operations.
This stack follows the last in first out principle LIFO, and handles a few basic operations:

1. Push which adds a value on top of the stack
2. Pop which removes and returns the value currently on top of the stack
3. Top which returns the number of values currently in the stack

The MMU

This processor is attached to a memory management unit MMU which handles virtual memory, which can be manipulated with ext instructions or set at startup time.
Virtual memory types include:

1. The ROM, which is just the assembled program
2. RAM segments
3. The stack
4. Files, either RO or RW
5. The VRAM
6. Basically anything permitted by the ext instruction

Interrupts

The emulated processor supports interrupts, which can be triggered by hardware, the interpreter itself or by the program.
When an interrupt is triggered, the processor will push the PC on the stack, followed by the interrupt data and the interrupt code. The processor will then jump to the interrupt handler.
Hardware interrupts may include:

1. Key press
2. Timers

Interpreter interrupts include:

1. Illegal operation
2. Segmentation error

Hardware interrupts may be subscribed or not, and by default are ignored. Interpreter interrupts will always be triggered when their conditions are met.
The interrupt handler MUST be set using the inth instruction and point to executable memory, otherwise any interrupt will crash the program.
The program may raise a software interrupt with the int instruction.

Instructions

Instructions are variable-length instructions, and can be anywhere between 8-bit and 32-bit long.
Instructions fall in two categories, regular and extended instructions:

1. Regular instructions consist of 2 bits describing the arguments type, 6 bits representing the opcode, and up to two bytes of arguments
2. Extended instructions are like regular instructions, but the 6-bit opcode is set to all ones, and there's a 8-bit opcode as the second byte, followed by up to two bytes of arguments

Instructions may use the following argument types:

1. None: all required arguments are popped from the stack
2. One: One argument is taken from a register, the others are popped from the stack
3. Two: Two arguments are taken from registers, and the others are popped from the stack
4. Immediate: One argument is read as a 16-bit immediate value, the others are popped from the stack