Syntax

Program Structure

A RAM program consists of a sequence of lines, each containing one of the following:

• An instruction (optionally preceded by a label)
• A label definition
• A comment
• A module declaration or import statement

Example

# This is a comment
start:  LOAD 1      # This loads the value at address 1
        ADD 2       # Add the value at address 2
        STORE 3     # Store the result in address 3
loop:   LOAD 3      # Load the result
        SUB 1       # Subtract 1
        JGTZ end    # Jump to 'end' if the result is greater than zero
        JUMP loop   # Jump back to 'loop'
end:    HALT        # Stop execution

Comments

Comments in RAM start with a # character and continue until the end of the line:

# This is a comment
LOAD 1  # This is also a comment

Labels

Labels are identifiers that mark specific positions in the code. They can be used as targets for jump instructions:

start:  LOAD 1      # 'start' is a label
        JUMP start  # Jump back to the 'start' label

Labels must be followed by an instruction and can only contain alphanumeric characters and underscores.

Instructions

Instructions are the basic building blocks of RAM programs. Each instruction consists of an opcode and, optionally, an operand:

LOAD 1      # Opcode: LOAD, Operand: 1
ADD 2       # Opcode: ADD, Operand: 2
HALT        # Opcode: HALT, No operand

See the Instructions page for a complete list of available instructions.

Operands

Operands specify the data that instructions operate on. RAM supports several addressing modes:

LOAD 1      # Direct addressing: Load from address 1
LOAD *1     # Indirect addressing: Load from the address stored at address 1
LOAD =1     # Immediate addressing: Load the value 1 directly

See the Operands page for more details on addressing modes.

Modules

RAM supports a module system similar to Rust's, allowing you to organize your code into separate files:

mod mymodule;       # Declare a module
use mymodule::*;    # Import all items from a module

See the Modules page for more information on the module system.

Whitespace and Formatting

RAM is not sensitive to whitespace, except for separating tokens. You can use spaces and tabs for indentation according to your preference.

Case Sensitivity

RAM is case-sensitive. For example, LOAD and load are considered different instructions.

Line Continuation

RAM does not support line continuation. Each instruction must be on a single line.