README.txt

Interactive TCC
===============

Make programming fun like Python.

An command-line shell for C, C++, Rust, Hare, Go, Zig, and the concise, regex-aware 
CPP (CRAP). Also known as an evaluation context, or read-eval-print loop (REPL), this revolutionary shell tool allows programmers to type commands in a variety of compiled
langauges and see immediate results.

About this project. Interactive TCC (itcc) is a small python3 utility originally 
forked from Interactive GCC (igcc). And we keep adding other languages to it. We do 
our best to make the code work for us, but it comes with NO Warranties. You are free 
to share and modify free software in according with the GNU General Public License 
(GPL) Version 2. See the notice at the bottom of this page and COPYING.txt for 
details. Get ITCC from GitHub https://github.com/themanyone/itcc

Dependencies. Build the optional TINYCC compiler (tcc) (or skip down to the C++ section 
ad use GCC). The experimental MOB branch of tcc accepts random contributions from 
anyone, so check it over carefully! Join the active mailing list, contribute fixes, 
and update often. git clone https://repo.or.cz/tinycc.git/

Now with color listings. Install Colorama Highlight (required). Available through your
distro package manager, conda, or pip.

The main reason we like tcc is instant gratification. Owing to its small download 
size, and the smallness of the resulting executables, tcc's one-pass build ensures 
virtually no compiler delays between entering code and seeing the results! Tcc 
supports Windows, Linux, Android and other targets with many common GCC extensions. 
But it might lack some of the optimizations of GCC. Also, tcc is a C compiler, not a 
C/C++ compiler suite like GCC.

Use our Interactive tcc shell, like this:

 $ ./itcc
 Released under GNU GPL version 2 or later, with NO WARRANTY.
 Type ".h" for help.
 
 tcc> int a = 5;
 tcc> a -= 2;
 tcc> if (a < 4) {
 tcc>    printf("a is %i\n", a);
 tcc> }
 a is 3
 tcc> |

Pass arguments to Interactive TCC and operate on them.

 $ ./itcc -- foo bar baz

 tcc> puts(argv[2]);
 bar
 tcc> |

Interactive Crap
================

Interactive, concise, regex-aware preprocessor (icrap) *is standard C* (using tcc in 
 the background), without most of the semicolons, curly braces, and parenthesis. Like 
 Python, use tab or indent 4 spaces instead of adding curly braces. Use two spaces 
 instead of parenthesis. Since braces are added automatically, it saves typing. There 
 are also some exciting, new go-like language features that really simplify C coding. 
 Get crap from https://themanyone.github.io/crap/ Released under GNU GPL 
 version 2 or later, with NO WARRANTY. Type ".h" for help.

 $./icrap -lm
 crap> #include "math.h"
 crap> for  int x=0;x<5;x++
 crap>      printf  "%i squared is %0.0f\n", x, pow(x, 2.0)
 0 squared is 0
 1 squared is 1
 2 squared is 4
 3 squared is 9
 4 squared is 16
 crap> |

Supply includes and libs on the command line. You can link against glib-2.0, plugins, 
etc. Test code without the compile step. Add extra CFLAGS and args. It's all free.

 icrap $(pkg-config --cflags --libs glib-2.0) -std=c11 -g -Wall -- foo myargs
 crap> .l
 #include <glib.h>
 #include <glib/gprintf.h>
 crap> GDateTime *dt=g_date_time_new_now_local ();
 crap> int yyyy,mm,dd
 crap> g_date_time_get_ymd dt, &yyyy, &mm, &dd
 crap> g_print "date: %.4d-%.2d-%.2d\n", yyyy, mm, dd
 date: 2024-02-14
 crap> puts  argv[2]
 myargs
 crap> |

Interactive Tcc and Interactive Crap build upon the original Interactive GCC (igcc), 
which is also included in this package. Those who have no problem converting C++ to C, 
might even be able to struggle through some of following examples using itcc, or 
icrap.

Interactive GCC
===============

Use Interactive GCC for C++ programming, like this:

 $ ./igcc 
 g++> int a = 5;
 g++> a += 2;
 g++> cout << a << endl;
 7
 g++> --a;
 g++> cout << a << endl;
 6
 g++> |

It is possible to include header files you need like this:

 $ ./igcc 
 g++> #include <vector>
 g++> vector<int> myvec;
 g++> myvec.push_back( 17 );
 g++> printf( "%d\n", myvec.size() );
 1
 g++> myvec.push_back( 21 );
 g++> printf( "%d\n", myvec.size() );
 2
 g++> |

Start igcc with the -e option to see every compiler error notification, even a missing 
closing brace from an unfinished block of code. These types of error notices are not 
useful for interactive sessions, so we hide them. You can always use .e to check for 
errors even without such warnings.

 $ ./igcc -e
 g++> #include <map>
 g++> map<string,int> hits;
 g++> hits["foo"] = 12;
 g++> hits["bar"] = 15;
 g++> for( map<string,int>::iterator it = hits.begin(); it != hits.end(); ++it )
 g++> {
 [Compile error - type .e to see it.]
 g++>	cout << it->first << " " << it->second << endl;
 [Compile error - type .e to see it.]
 g++> }
 bar 15
 foo 12
 g++> |

Extra include directories can be supplied:

 $ ./igcc -Itest/cpp -Itest/cpp2
 g++> #include "hello.h"
 g++> hello();
 Hello, 
 g++> #include "world.h"
 g++> world();
 world!
 g++> |

Libs can be linked:

 $ ./igcc -lm # bad example since libm.a is already linked in C++
 g++> #include "math.h"
 g++> cout << pow( 3, 3 ) << endl;
 27
 g++> |

Your own libs can be linked too:

 $ ./igcc -Itest/cpp -Ltest/cpp -lmylib
 g++> #include "mylib.h"
 g++> defined_in_cpp();
 defined_in_cpp saying hello.
 g++> |

The cstdio, iostream and string headers are automatically included, and the std 
namespace is already in scope.

Interactive Rust
================

We can now run rust interactively. Get rustup from http://rust-lang.org or your 
distro's package manager. Use the nightly build for cutting-edge development.

rustup toolchain install nightly
rustup default nightly

Typing .h [std] or any such rust idiom brings up a local copy of the documentation 
from https://rust-cli.github.io/book/tutorial/cli-args.html, which should be installed 
when you install rust using the above method.

Now we can invoke irust. Arguments after the `--` are passed along to the interactive 
session for us to play with.

 $ ./irust -- foo bar baz
 irust 0.3
Released under GNU GPL version 2 or later, with NO WARRANTY.
Type ".h" for help.

 rust> use std::env;
 rust> let args: Vec<String> = env::args().collect();
 rust> for arg in args.iter() {
 rust>     println!("{}", arg);
 rust> }
 foo
 bar
 baz
 rust> |

Interactive Hare
================

Hare is a systems programming language with a static type system, manual memory 
management, and a small runtime. It's well-suited for low-level, high-performance 
tasks like operating systems, system tools, compilers, and networking software. Now 
you can play with it interactively.

Hare Website:   https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/harelang.org

Hare compiler:  git clone https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/harec
Hare std libs:  git clone https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/hare
Depends on QBE: https://c9x.me/compile/code.html
Requires scdoc: https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/scdoc

Compile everything from the latest sources. Once installed, it will work with our 
interactive demo here. Also, be sure and get more help, libraries, and resources 
below.

Interactive hare session:

 $./ihare
 ihare 0.3
 Released under GNU GPL version 2 or later, with NO WARRANTY.
 Get hare from https://sr.ht/~sircmpwn/hare/sources
 Type ".h" for help.

 hare> const greetings = [
 hare>           "Hello, world!",
 hare>           "¡Hola Mundo!",
 hare>           "Γειά σου Κόσμε!",
 hare>           "Привіт, світ!",
 hare>           "こんにちは世界！",
 hare>   ];
 hare>   for (let i = 0z; i < len(greetings); i += 1) {
 hare>           fmt::println(greetings[i])!;
 hare> };
 Hello, world!
 ¡Hola Mundo!
 Γειά σου Κόσμε!
 Привіт, світ! 
 こんにちは世界！
 hare> 
 hare> // get help on rt::timespec
 hare> .h rt::timespec
 type timespec = struct {
        tv_sec: time_t,
        tv_nsec: i64,
 };
 hare> |

Interactive Zig
===============

$ izig
izig 0.3
Released under GNU GPL version 2 or later, with NO WARRANTY.
Get zig from distro package or https://ziglang.org/
Type ".h" for help.

zig> const stdout = std.io.getStdOut().writer();
zig> try stdout.print("Hello, {s}!\n", .{"world"});
Hello, world!
zig> |

Interactive Go
==============

$ igo
igo 0.3
Released under GNU GPL version 2 or later, with NO WARRANTY.
Get go from https://go.dev/                                                                   
Type ".h" for help.                                                                           
go> fmt.Println("Welcome to the playground!")
Welcome to the playground!
go> import "time"
go> fmt.Println("The time is", time.Now())
The time is 2024-03-02 10:28:25
go> .L
package main
import "fmt"
import "time"
func main() {
    fmt.Println("Welcome to the playground!")
    fmt.Println("The time is", time.Now())
}

go> |

FAQ. Issues.
============

How does it work? Does it re-run the entire code block each time?

Yes. Although it runs all the code each time, it only prints the new output. 
Supposedly. There appears to be some bugs with detecting what was already printed, 
causing some new lines to produce no output. In that case, just press CTRL-C or CTRL-D 
and restart it. We're working on that...

Your Editor Is Now a REPL
=========================

Our replacement is here. Any language. Any editor.

We made a REPL maker! This command is all you need.
 $ repl.sh [compiler] -run [sources]

It watches `test.c` for changes. If it detects any, it compiles and runs.

Compiler options supported. After `--` my args are available inside script.
 $ repl.sh tcc $CFLAGS $LIBS -run test.c -- my args

Use `runner` if your compiler does not have a -run option.
 $ repl.sh runner gcc $CFLAGS $LIBS test.c -- my args

The `hare` build system.
 $ repl.sh runner hare build hello.ha -- my args

Some new Smurf language? Smurfy.
 $ repl.sh smurf run papa.smurf -- my args

Get REPL Ace free from https://github.com/themanyone/REPLace

Updating This Package
=====================

itcc is published on GitHub. Get it from https://github.com/themanyone/itcc where 
developers can submit bug reports, fork, and pull requests with code contributions.

Other REPLs
-----------
REPLAce: a REPL for all languages https://github.com/themanyone/REPLace
various languages in the browser http://repl.it
csharp: included with monodevelop http://www.csharphelp.com/
psysh: comes with php for php code http://php.net
evcxr: another Rust REPL https://github.com/evcxr/evcxr
ipython: interactive python https://github.com/ipython/ipython
rep.lua: a lua REPL https://github.com/hoelzro/lua-repl
re.pl: perl command line https://github.com/daurnimator/rep
d8-314: from V8, JavaScript https://developers.google.com/v8/
csi: from chicken, a scheme REPL http://call-cc.org/
RStudio: interactive R coding https://rstudio.com/
Ruby IRB: REPL tool for Ruby https://ruby-doc.org/stdlib-2.7.2/libdoc/irb/rdoc/IRB.html
numerous bash-like shells and interpreters

Legacy Code
-----------

For Python2, you may opt to download Andy Balaam's original IGCC tarball from the 
Sourceforge download area:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/igcc/files/

Untar it like so:

 tar -xjf igcc-0.1.tar.bz2

And then start the program like this:

 cd igcc-0.1
 ./igcc

Links
-----

IGCC home page:
http://www.artificialworlds.net/wiki/IGCC/IGCC

IGCC Sourceforge page:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/igcc/

Andy Balaam's home page:
http://www.artificialworlds.net

Andy Balaam's blog:
http://www.artificialworlds.net/blog

Contact
-------

Andy Balaam may be contacted on axis3x3 at users dot sourceforge dot net

Copyright
---------

IGCC is Copyright (C) 2009 Andy Balaam

IGCC is Free Software released under the terms of the GNU General Public License 
version 2 or later.

IGCC comes with NO WARRANTY

See the file COPYING for more information.

This fork is maintained with updated code, which is Copyright (C) 2024 by Henry Kroll 
III under the same license. Blame him if there are problems with these updates. Issues 
for this fork are maintained on GitHub.

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