Hi kids, I have work-related reason to add a "B" backend for Perl 5 to the perl6 compiler. I'm looking at creating an assembler for Perl 5's "B" bytecode along the lines of IMCC, and creating patches against languages/perl6/IMCC.pm and languages/perl6/IMCC/* to conditionally, using some sort of phrasebook, generate assembly for either Parrot or B. The B assembler would use B::Generate to build up a bytecode tree, and then B::Deparse to dump P5 or else more likely dump the raw bytecode and use ByteLoader to suck it back in.
Some things, such as multiple dispatch, would depend on external P5 libraries, but that is okey. I'm imagining a sort of Inline::Perl6 thing. Doing fun things on the clock is always nice. Reasons for posting this now: 1. Collaborate if someone else has already secretly started something similiar. 2. Collaborate if someone else later wants to do something similiar. 3. Give concerned parties a chance to make requests of me before I do anything. This should have been posted to perl6-language, but I'm not subscribed there. I'm hoping it'll make the summary and everyone will see it anyway. Perhaps a little later I suppose I'll have to bother. I've just spent the last two months emersed in B working on typesafety.pm, and I really want to capitalize on that =) (And I don't care what anyone says, B rocks!). Comments? Suggestions? Ideas? Thoughts? -scott
