ASCIIORb

ASCIIORb is a stack-based language that follows the "syntax" of the @ORb language created by Threesodas.

Stack-based

In ASCIIORb, there are three stacks: the Action stack (STAQ), the Numerical stack (STAK) and the Queue stack (STAC). Each stack has its own purpose:

Stack	Identification	Purpose
Action	STAQ	This stack is an immutable stack in the sense that no values can be popped or dropped; values can only be pushed. Its purpose is to represent actions such as pushes to other stacks. Actions that have already been taken can be repeated. See the code below this table for an example.
Numerical	STAK	This stack is a mutable stack. In order to print a character, you must first push a numerical value to this stack. Then, you can pop one or all numerical values and push them to the Queue stack.
Queue	STAC	This stack is a mutable stack. However it doesn't have much of a purpose considering all it is used for is execution. When the final keyword FIN is used, the program will end and it will begin to print characters based off of ASCII values from the top down. *CLARIFICATION: When ALL values of the Numerical stack are pushed to the Queue stack, they are all added into ONE value. For instance, if you were to push 10,10,10,10,10,10,1,1,1,1,1 to the Queue stack, it would add up to 65.

Action Stack Visualization

INQ STAK
9 REP 0
STAK PUSHAL STAC
FIN STAC

Here is the visualization of the stack for this code:

Print all values from the Queue stack.
Push all values from the Numerical stack to the Queue stack.
Repeat the first action nine times.
Increase the Numerical stack by 10.

Numerical Stack Visualization

INQ STAK
9 REP 0
STAK PUSHAL STAC
FIN STAC

Here is the visualization of the stack for this code:

10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10

Queue Stack Visualization

INQ STAK
9 REP 0
STAK PUSHAL STAC
FIN STAC

Here is the visualization of the stack for this code:

100

Commands and their functions

The following is a table including all commands in ASCIIORb:

Command	Function	Example
INC	Add a value of 1 to the specified stack.	INC STAK
INQ	Add a value of 10 to the specified stack.	INQ STAK
PUSH	Push the top value of the specified stack to another.	STAK PUSH STAC
PUSHAL	Push all values of a stack to another.	STAC PUSHAL STAK
PEK	Peek; push the top value of a stack to another without removing it.	STAK PEK STAC
PEKAL	Push all values from one stack to another without removing them.	STAK PEKAL STAK
DROP	Drop the top value from a stack.	DROP STAK
DROPAL	Drop all values from a specified stack.	DROPAL STAK
REP	Repeat an action from the Action stack.	9 REP 0
FIN	Print all values from the specified stack. This ends the program.	FIN STAC

Complete Descriptions

<> : Required argument
[] : Optional argument
INC, INQ: Add a value of 1 or 10 to the Numerical stack depending on the command.
 Usage: INC <Stack>
 Example: INC STAK
PUSH, PUSHAL: Push the top or all values to another stack. This removes one or all values from the stack.
 Usage: <FromStack> PUSH <ToStack>
 Example: STAK PUSH STAC
PEK, PEKAL: This command is the same as PUSH/PUSHAL except the value is not removed.
 Usage: <FromStack> PEK <ToStack>
 Example: STAK PEK STAC
DROP, DROPAL: Removes one or all values from a stack.
 Usage: DROP <Stack>
 Example: DROP STAQ
REP: Repeat an action from the Action stack.
 Usage: <RepeatAmount> REP <IndexOfAction>
 Example: 5 REP 4
FIN: Print all values from a stack from the top down.
 Usage: FIN <Stack>
 Example: FIN STAC

Thinking Backwards

Since a stack is executed from the top to the bottom, you must have your string reversed! If your stack represented "H,E,L,L,O", it would be executed as "O,L,L,E,H".

Examples

Peeking and Dropping

The following program generates the output text “ABA” by peeking items and employing the DROP command:

INQ STAK
INQ STAK
INQ STAK
INQ STAK
INQ STAK
INQ STAK
INC STAK
INC STAK
INC STAK
INC STAK
INC STAK
STAK PEKAL STAC
INC STAK
STAK PEKAL STAC
DROP STAK
STAK PEKAL STAC
FIN STAC

Interpreter

• Common Lisp implementation of the ASCIIORb programming language.