Vx – One Language, Every Chip

(vxlang.org)

34 points | by elffjs 3 hours ago

10 comments

  • pdpi 46 minutes ago
    > Vx is the right language for the thing that must be correct and fast across ten kinds of silicon. It is not the right language for the thing you are still figuring out.

    A bit tangential, but I really *really* appreciate them making this distinction, and wish more people did this. Way too many tools try to advertise themselves as all things for all people, catering to all use cases, and that helps nobody.

  • dev_dan_2 4 minutes ago
    Always nice seeing others arriving at similar conclusions! Those two jump out to me:

    - "Most compilers hard-code a cost model. Vx reads one. A machine file describes the memory hierarchy and interconnect of a real part, and the compiler admits or rejects placements against it." I also designed it so that the target system is described by a single file that is picked up by the static analysis - cool!

    - "Where data lives is part of its type" also doing that - when I got my project to an mvp state; I need to check out how vxlang does what it does: do they use a literal typesystem, or also compile checks outside of that? If its a type system, is it a dependent type system, or another flavor?

    Yet another motivation to finally get my side project starting (forth-adjacent, many similar claims with regards to compile-time checks as vxlang; however, I still have to achieve that, while they already seem to have at least those and more in place; kudos to the vxlang team!)

  • IshKebab 4 minutes ago
    Ugh guys... The front page of your project is the most important thing there is. If you can't even be bothered to write it yourself then I don't have much hope for the rest of your project.
    • dev_dan_2 2 minutes ago
      I would argue that it does a good job at pre-selecting its core intended userbase.
  • Cyan488 1 hour ago
    > Heterogeneity belongs in the type system, not in the runtime.

    Is the intent that applications developed with this are compiled for target hardware on a machine-specific basis?

    e.g. I define a machine file for my i5 and GTX3080, and another machine file for my gnarly datacenter rack, and the compiler compiles specifically for each?

    That way the same source file is "provable" for different hardware configurations without relying on a runtime to be identicallu implemented?

  • png732 1 hour ago
    Is there a backstory for this being named Vx? Seems a bit too close for comfort to the VxWorks OS, though there seems to be no connection.
  • yewenjie 1 hour ago
    Why is it giving me Vlang vibe
  • amelius 1 hour ago
    > Vx is the right language for the thing that must be correct and fast across ten kinds of silicon. It is not the right language for the thing you are still figuring out.

    Sounds like a great language for an AI to use then :)

  • api 1 hour ago
    Why does this need a new language? Aren't there existing languages where these concepts can be expressed?
  • AnimalMuppet 3 hours ago
    I haven't played with it at all, but the writeup looks promising. Moving a bunch of things into the type system and out of runtime crashes is one of the ways we make progress.
    • dnautics 1 hour ago
      I think this is wrong. Type systems should be simpler, and you should design it so that your language is easily and correctly statically checked. Not all invariants necessarily have to be verified at the same cadence (compile time)
      • treyd 1 hour ago
        > you should design it so that your language is easily and correctly statically checked.

        You do that by making the type system more sophisticated.

        If you have a really important invariant that you really don't want to be violated due to run-time behavior/input, it's a huge benefit to have a compiler that can statically check that it actually can't be. That's one of the main benefits of having type systems, not just describing the shape of data structures in memory.

        • dnautics 1 hour ago
          You can perform static analysis outside of the compiler without putting things in the type system?

          C is a bad language to do this with for various reasons, but as a simple example:

              char* buf = malloc(SIZE);
              free(buf);
              free(buf);
          
          There is absolutely no reason why static analysis should not be able to see what the problem is here.
          • binary132 47 minutes ago
            typesystems can be considered a kind of static analysis
      • classified 1 hour ago
        So you prefer runtime crashes to compiler diagnostics, just so the type system can be "simpler"? I find these priorities backwards.
        • dnautics 1 hour ago
          > So you prefer runtime crashes

          Do you not understand what static analysis is?

  • BatchJob 1 hour ago
    Here we go again, why dont we try this again?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmeta