From: Matthijs Kooijman <matthijs@stdin.nl>
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:22:50 +0000 (+0200)
Subject: Further expand the Prototype chapter.
X-Git-Tag: final-thesis~247
X-Git-Url: https://git.stderr.nl/gitweb?a=commitdiff_plain;h=fc1688977fdd8ee18e027876b8d86b0c38e25540;p=matthijs%2Fmaster-project%2Freport.git

Further expand the Prototype chapter.
---

diff --git a/Chapters/Prototype.tex b/Chapters/Prototype.tex
index 64fbbe7..945e920 100644
--- a/Chapters/Prototype.tex
+++ b/Chapters/Prototype.tex
@@ -56,6 +56,39 @@
     compiler, we will first dive into the \small{GHC} compiler a bit. It's
     compilation consists of the following steps (slightly simplified):
 
+    \startuseMPgraphic{ghc-pipeline}
+      % Create objects
+      save inp, front, desugar, simpl, back, out;
+      newEmptyBox.inp(0,0);
+      newBox.front(btex Parser etex);
+      newBox.desugar(btex Desugarer etex);
+      newBox.simpl(btex Simplifier etex);
+      newBox.back(btex Backend etex);
+      newEmptyBox.out(0,0);
+
+      % Space the boxes evenly
+      inp.c - front.c = front.c - desugar.c = desugar.c - simpl.c 
+        = simpl.c - back.c = back.c - out.c = (0, 1.5cm);
+      out.c = origin;
+
+      % Draw lines between the boxes. We make these lines "deferred" and give
+      % them a name, so we can use ObjLabel to draw a label beside them.
+      ncline.inp(inp)(front) "name(haskell)";
+      ncline.front(front)(desugar) "name(ast)";
+      ncline.desugar(desugar)(simpl) "name(core)";
+      ncline.simpl(simpl)(back) "name(simplcore)";
+      ncline.back(back)(out) "name(native)";
+      ObjLabel.inp(btex Haskell source etex) "labpathname(haskell)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.front(btex Haskell AST etex) "labpathname(ast)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.desugar(btex Core etex) "labpathname(core)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.simpl(btex Simplified core etex) "labpathname(simplcore)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.back(btex Native code etex) "labpathname(native)", "labdir(rt)";
+
+      % Draw the objects (and deferred labels)
+      drawObj (inp, front, desugar, simpl, back, out);
+    \stopuseMPgraphic
+    \placefigure[right]{GHC compiler pipeline}{\useMPgraphic{ghc-pipeline}}
+
     \startdesc{Frontend}
       This step takes the Haskell source files and parses them into an
       abstract syntax tree (\small{AST}). This \small{AST} can express the
@@ -82,9 +115,92 @@
       discuss it any further, since it is not required for our prototype.
     \stopdesc
 
+    In this process, there a number of places where we can start our work.
+    Assuming that we don't want to deal with (or modify) parsing, typechecking
+    and other frontend business and that native code isn't really a useful
+    format anymore, we are left with the choice between the full Haskell
+    \small{AST}, or the smaller (simplified) core representation.
+
+    The advantage of taking the full \small{AST} is that the exact structure
+    of the source program is preserved. We can see exactly what the hardware
+    descriiption looks like and which syntax constructs were used. However,
+    the full \small{AST} is a very complicated datastructure. If we are to
+    handle everything it offers, we will quickly get a big compiler.
+
+    Using the core representation gives us a much more compact datastructure
+    (a core expression only uses 9 constructors). Note that this does not mean
+    that the core representation itself is smaller, on the contrary. Since the
+    core language has less constructs, a lot of things will take a larger
+    expression to express.
+
+    However, the fact that the core language is so much smaller, means it is a
+    lot easier to analyze and translate it into something else. For the same
+    reason, \small{GHC} runs its simplifications and optimizations on the core
+    representation as well.
+
+    However, we will use the normal core representation, not the simplified
+    core. Reasons for this are detailed below.
+    
+    The final prototype roughly consists of three steps:
+    
+    \startuseMPgraphic{ghc-pipeline}
+      % Create objects
+      save inp, front, norm, vhdl, out;
+      newEmptyBox.inp(0,0);
+      newBox.front(btex \small{GHC} frontend + desugarer etex);
+      newBox.norm(btex Normalization etex);
+      newBox.vhdl(btex VHDL generation etex);
+      newEmptyBox.out(0,0);
+
+      % Space the boxes evenly
+      inp.c - front.c = front.c - norm.c = norm.c - vhdl.c 
+        = vhdl.c - out.c = (0, 1.5cm);
+      out.c = origin;
+
+      % Draw lines between the boxes. We make these lines "deferred" and give
+      % them a name, so we can use ObjLabel to draw a label beside them.
+      ncline.inp(inp)(front) "name(haskell)";
+      ncline.front(front)(norm) "name(core)";
+      ncline.norm(norm)(vhdl) "name(normal)";
+      ncline.vhdl(vhdl)(out) "name(vhdl)";
+      ObjLabel.inp(btex Haskell source etex) "labpathname(haskell)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.front(btex Core etex) "labpathname(core)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.norm(btex Normalized core etex) "labpathname(normal)", "labdir(rt)";
+      ObjLabel.vhdl(btex VHDL description etex) "labpathname(vhdl)", "labdir(rt)";
+
+      % Draw the objects (and deferred labels)
+      drawObj (inp, front, norm, vhdl, out);
+    \stopuseMPgraphic
+    \placefigure[right]{GHC compiler pipeline}{\useMPgraphic{ghc-pipeline}}
+
+    \startdesc{Frontend}
+      This is exactly the frontend and desugarer from the \small{GHC}
+      pipeline, that translates Haskell sources to a core representation.
+    \stopdesc
+    \startdesc{Normalization}
+      This is a step that transforms the core representation into a normal
+      form. This normal form is still expressed in the core language, but has
+      to adhere to an extra set of constraints. This normal form is less
+      expressive than the full core language (e.g., it can have limited higher
+      order expressions, has a specific structure, etc.), but is also very
+      close to directly describing hardware.
+    \stopdesc
+    \startdesc{VHDL generation}
+      The last step takes the normal formed core representation and generates
+      VHDL for it. Since the normal form has a specific, hardware-like
+      structure, this final step is very straightforward.
+    \stopdesc
+    
+    The most interesting step in this process is the normalization step. That
+    is where more complicated functional constructs, which have no direct
+    hardware interpretation, are removed and translated into hardware
+    constructs. This step is described in a lot of detail at
+    \in{chapter}[chap:normalization].
+    
+
         Core - description of the language (appendix?)
-	Stages (-> Core, Normalization, -> VHDL)
         Implementation issues
+        Simplified core?
 
         Haskell language coverage / constraints
                 Recursion