8f4e
8f4e is a stack-oriented programming language designed for real-time audio synthesis, with a visual code editor built for live coding and experimentation.
I started it as a recreational programming project during the COVID-19 lockdown to perform generative music at algorave events.
Its primary target is the WebAssembly virtual machine, as I wanted an efficient yet portable tool for real-time audio signal generation and processing.
Stack-Oriented Execution Model
Stack-oriented programming means that instead of using registers, instructions take their operands from a stack and push their results back onto the same stack for the next instruction to consume.
I chose this programming paradigm because the WebAssembly virtual machine is itself a stack machine.
Staying native to this execution model avoids costly abstractions and makes it possible to write faster programs compared to typical WebAssembly-targeting languages.
... 067 push 2 068 push 3 069 ; Pushing values 2 and 3 070 ; onto the stack. 071 add 072 ; After executing the 073 ; add instruction, 074 ; the stack will contain 075 ; the value 5 076 push 10 077 mul 078 ; Now the stack will 079 ; contain the value 50 080 push 10 081 div 082 ; Now 5 again ...
Memory Access and Pointers
Unlike in most programming languages, memory addresses in 8f4e are determined by the compiler and inlined at compile time.
This allows direct memory access with pointers, without requiring an additional indirection layer such as a heap or garbage collector.
... 003 int result ... 069 push &result 070 ; The variable name 071 ; prefixed with & 072 ; gives its memory address. 073 push 42 074 store 075 ; The store instruction 076 ; takes two values: 077 ; a memory address 078 ; and the value to store. ...
All memory items are laid out sequentially in memory, so variables declared one after another occupy adjacent memory locations.
They are aligned on a 32-bit grid, which means every memory item starts at an address that is a multiple of 4 bytes.
... 003 int a 42 004 005 float b 3.14 006 ; Memory address of b 007 ; is address of a + 4 008 009 int c -5 010 ; Memory address of c 011 ; is address of b + 4 ...
Dynamic memory allocation is not supported in 8f4e, but it has no place in the hot path of audio processing anyway.
Live Variable Editing
8f4e supports real-time editing of variable values while a program is running, without recompilation.
This is made possible by the deterministic allocation strategy: because memory addresses are fixed at compile time, the compiler can provide the exact address of every memory item, allowing the editor to locate and update any variable directly.
... 003 int foo 10 004 ; You can change these 005 ; values in the editor 006 ; while the program is running. 007 float bar 3.14 008 ; The editor will trace 009 ; them back in the memory 010 ; and update their values 011 ; without restarting 012 ; or recompiling the program. ...
Endless Execution Loop
Programs in 8f4e run in an endless loop. This reflects how real-time audio systems operate, where processing consists of continuously reading from and writing to audio buffers.
8f4e removes this control flow boilerplate and allows programs to focus purely on signal generation and transformation.
Modules and Execution Order
The code is organized into modules, each containing variable declarations and a sequence of commands.
The execution order of the code modules is determined by their dependencies. If a module's output is needed as input for others, it is executed first.
... 001 module foo 002 003 int a 10 004 int b 20 005 int result 006 007 push &result 008 push a 009 push b 010 add 011 store 012 013 moduleEnd ...
All variables in 8f4e are inherently public, with no option to modify visibility.
8f4e is not memory-safe, pointers can point to anything within the memory space of the program, but the visual wires help developers to find where their pointers are pointing.
... 003 int* pointer 004 005 push &pointer 006 push pointer 007 push 4 008 push add 009 store 010 ; pointer will iterate through 011 ; memory in 4-byte steps. ...
What 8f4e is NOT
8f4e is not a general-purpose programming language. It is not designed for building applications, services, or user interfaces.
It doesn't mean that it would be impossible to build such things, but it would be impractical and inefficient to do so.
Nevertheless, I would love to see someone build a web server or a game engine in 8f4e, just to push the limits of the language.
