This document provides an overview of the origins and development of the ooc programming language. It discusses how ooc was initially created as part of a school project, its evolution through several rewrites and a self-hosting effort, and how it aims to provide the best of both the C and Java worlds through its design. The document also covers ooc's syntactic features, the development of its self-compiling rock compiler, its legacy through various projects, and commonly asked questions about its performance, interoperability and future.

1. ooc
The Quest for the Holy Grail
OSDC.fr 2010 ooc-lang.org Amos Wenger

2. Roadmap
I. The origins
II. The best of both worlds
III. Syntactic sweets
IV. Rocking out
V. The legacy
VI. Agora
OSDC.fr 2010 ooc-lang.org Amos Wenger

3. The Original Sin
● After years of self-teaching
➔ The Games Factory/MultiMedia Fusion
➔ C++/OpenGL/SDL
➔ Java/Xith3D/JOODE
● Back to the real world
➔ A C school project
➔ Deadline: 6 months
➔ No object-orientation in sight
ooc-lang.orgI. The origins

4. The fool who challenged the gods
● A dead-end idea
➔ Java-derived syntax
➔ No structure
➔ ...instead of working on the actual project
● MOD (Miracle-Oriented Development)
➔ Naive « translator »
➔ No error checking
➔ Bug-ridden
ooc-lang.orgI. The origins

5. The first-born
● ooc 0.1
➔ Written in Java, 11K SLOC
➔ Generates C code
➔ Handed in along with the real project
➔ « Real » project developed in a few days
➔ Success!
« Version 1.0 sucks, but ship it anyway »
Jeff Atwood (CodingHorror)
ooc-lang.orgI. The origins

6. A curious alchemy
ooc-lang.orgI. The origins

7. The test of time
● 4 rewrites later
➔ Syntax evolved
➔ Still written in Java
➔ Type inference
➔ Generics (horribly implemented)
● Meanwhile, on #ooc-lang/Freenode
➔ A self-hosting effort is started
ooc-lang.orgI. The origins

8. A dream come true
● In just a few weeks
➔ rock = ooc port of the j/ooc compiler
➔ first real community effort
➔ serious cleanups
● A few more weeks, and
➔ rock compiled itself!
➔ again...
➔ and again...
➔ (with a spoon)
ooc-lang.orgI. The origins

9. C vs Java
● Low-level
● « Simple »
● « Lightweight »
● Fuckload of libraries
● « Object-oriented »
● « Safe »
● « Modular »
● Garbage-collected
Can't we
have both?
ooc-lang.orgII. The best of both worlds

10. ooc in a nutshell
● Modularity
➔ import = Modules
➔ use = Libraries
● Types
➔ cover = base types from C
➔ class = simple inheritance, interface, enum
● Functions
➔ name: func (…) -> Type { … }
➔ first-class, overload, defaults, varargs
ooc-lang.orgII. The best of both worlds

11. ooc in a coconut shell
● Generics
➔ identity: func <T> (t: T) T { t }→
● try, catch = Exceptions
➔ Exception new("You dun goofed!") println()
● version = Platform-specific blocks
➔ version(trial) { Time sleepSec(5) }
● operator = Operator overload
➔ operator + (a, b: Int) { a - b } // huhu.
ooc-lang.orgII. The best of both worlds

12. Sweet #1
● Before
Person: class {
firstname, lastname: String
init: func (firstname, lastname: String) {
this firstname = firstname
this lastname = lastname
}
}
● After
init: func (=firstname, =lastname) {}
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

13. Sweet #2
● Before
import structs/ArrayList
import structs/HashMap
import structs/Stack
● After
import structs/[ArrayList, HashMap, Stack]
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

14. Sweet #3
● Before
set := Set new()
set add(a)
set add(b)
set add(c)
● After
set := Set new(). add(a). add(b). add(c)
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

15. Sweet #4
● Before
if(o instanceOf?(LeftBound)) {
e as LeftBound left
} else if(i instanceOf?(RightBound)) {
e as RightBound right
}
● After
match o {
case lb: LeftBound => lf left
case rb: RightBound => rb right
}
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

16. Sweet #5
● Before
f: func (key: String, value: UInt) {
…
}
map each(f)
● After
list each(|key, value| …)
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

17. covers
● Most C apis are OO
➔ include someaudiolib
➔ SomeType: cover from some_sound { ... }
➔ new: static extern(some_sound_load) func
➔ play: extern(some_sound_play) func
● We're only revealing their true nature
➔ Sound new("ka-ching.ogg") play()
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

18. compound covers
● C structs on steroids
➔ Point: cover { x, y, z: Float }
● Stack vs Heap allocation
➔ p := (3.0, 6.0, 7.0) as Point
➔ init: func@ (=x, =y, =z) {}
● By-value semantics
● Per-method by-ref semantics with func@
➔ norm: func -> Float { Math sqrt(x*x + y*y + z*z) }
➔ set: func@ (=x, =y, =z) {}
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

19. apropos allocation
● So far, every object is heap-allocated
➔ Boehm GC - conservative & fast (si si.)
➔ -gc=off
● But since new is a method like any other...
➔ pool := static Pool<This> new()
➔ new: static func -> This { pool acquire() }
➔ destroy: func { pool release(this) }
➔ v := Vector3 new() // sha-zam.
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

20. extend
● User-side addition of methods to any type
extend SSizeT {
times: func (f: Func(SSizeT)) {
f(this)
(this - 1) times(f)
}
}
3 times(|| knock())
ooc-lang.orgIII. Syntactic sweets

21. rock
➔ ooc compiler in ooc
➔ 22K SLOC
➔ 132 modules
➔ 1900 commits
– Amos Wenger
– Friedrich Weber
– Rofl0r
– Yannic Ahrens
– Joshua Rösslein
– Scott Olson
– Michael Tremel
– Anthony Roja Buck
– Noel Cower
– Mark Fayngersh
– Peter Lichard
– Patrice Ferlet
– Nick Markwell
– Daniel Danopia
– Michael Kedzierski
– Tim Howard
– Mickael9
– Viraptor
– ...
ooc-lang.orgIV. Rocking out

22. The plan
ooc-lang.orgIV. Rocking out
Parsing
Resolving
Error
reporting
C backend
Generating C
C compilation
Other backends

23. Drivers
● combine
➔ All at the same time
➔ Legacy
● sequence (default)
➔ One by one, lib cache
➔ Partial recompilation
● make
➔ Generates a Makefile with the C code
➔ Ideal for distribution
ooc-lang.orgIV. Rocking out

24. Dependencies
● import text/json/Parser
➔ Not transitive (unlike include)
➔ Cyclic deps are handled
● use antigravity, sdl
➔ Name, Description, Version, Requirements
➔ Includes, Linker and compiler flags
– pkg-config
➔ SourcePath, Imports
● Bye-bye auto-tools!
ooc-lang.orgIV. Rocking out

25. The SDK
● Mainline SDK
➔ is comfortable (net, text, structs, io, math, os...)
➔ ...but a bit large for some
● There's no such thing as « The SDK »
➔ -sdk=, $OOC_SDK
➔ Bare minimum
– Object
– Class
– a few base types
ooc-lang.orgIV. Rocking out

26. The legacy
● oos
ooc operating system, runs on x86 real hw,
custom sdk, bits of asm but 0% C
● ooc-ti
sdk for tigcc, compiles+runs stuff on TI89!
● pyooc
use ooc code from python, json backend
zero-configuration
● ruby-inline-ooc
load+evaluate ruby code inside ooc
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

27. ooc-ti
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

28. The legacy II
● reincarnate
package manager, in ooc, for ooc. deps based
on usefiles, python server backend (nirvana)
● stako
a stack-based language inspired by factor
● langsniff
analyzes a text and find which language it's in
● yajit
simple just-in-time assembler - used in rock for
flattening closures
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

29. teeworlds-ai
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

30. The legacy III
● spry
IRC bot framework in ooc
● proof
small testing framework for ooc
● ooc-web
ooc web applicaton framework
● mustang
templating engine based on
the infamous mustache
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

31. inception-engine
● game engine, OpenGL+SDL, ingame console
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

32. The legacy IV
<your project here>
http://github.com/languages/ooc
ooc-lang.orgV. The legacy

33. Questions
➔ Languages
– What about Go/Vala?
– What about
Scala/Clojure?
– What about C++?
– What about C#?
➔ Development
– Can I contribute?
– Do you want money?
– What's next for rock?
– Where else can I help?
➔ Performance
– Is it fast?
➔ Bindings
– Does lib X have
bindings yet?
– Isn't it tedious to do
bindings?
➔ Interoperability
– Let's do rbooc!
– Let's do Perl::ooc!
– Let's do Y!
ooc-lang.orgVI. Agora

34. Thanks for listening!
Web http://ooc-lang.org
IRC #ooc-lang on Freenode
Twitter @ooc_lang
Mail ndd@rylliog.cz
OSDC.fr 2010 ooc-lang.org Amos Wenger