Draft:Instrumentalities
Instrumentalities is an esoteric programming language by User:AnalysisOfVariance in 2026. It was made to game the Esolang Quality Rating System yet again.
Overview
Just like a typical computer, the memory is an array of words and two word-sized registers A and B, as well as a word-sized output port and a word-sized input port. Unlike a typical computer though, the program is stored separately from the main memory, making Instrumentalities a Harvard architecture CPU compared to a typical modern CPU's von Neumann architecture where code and data live in the same memory allowing self-modification.
The word size and length of the array of words are both unspecified.
On initialization, all memory cells and the registers are initialized to zero.
| Command | Description | Pseudocode |
|---|---|---|
~
|
Increments the A register. | A++
|
:
|
Sets the A register to the word at the address of the A register. | A = mem[A]
|
;
|
Sets the word at the address of the A register to the value of the B register. | mem[A] = B
|
!
|
Swaps the A and B registers. | A, B = B, A
|
'
|
Copies the A register to the B register. | B = A
|
"
|
Copies the B register to the A register. | A = B
|
+
|
Adds the B register to the A register. This is wrapping. | A += B
|
-
|
Subtracts the B register from the A register. This is wrapping. | A -= B
|
*
|
Multiplies the A register by the B register. This is wrapping. | A *= B
|
^
|
Raises A to the power of B, using modular exponentiation where the modulus is the maximum word size. 0 raised to 0 is defined as 1. | A = pow(A, B)
|
@
|
Jumps backwards by the B register amount of instructions (wrapping) if the A register is zero. | if (A == 0) { ip = (ip - B) mod code length }
|
`
|
Jumps forwards by the B register amount of instructions (wrapping) if the A register is zero. | if (A == 0) { ip = (ip + B) mod code length }
|
<
|
Outputs the A register to a serial word output port. | outw(A)
|
>
|
Reads a word from the serial word input port into the A register. | A = readw()
|
What the input and output ports do are implementation-defined. They can do anything, even nothing.
Computational class
If the word array is of bounded size, then Instrumentalities is a bounded-storage machine thus making it a finite-state automaton.
Examples
XKCD Random Number
This works only if the word output port outputs integers.
~~~~<
Infinite loop
A=16, B=2 ~~'^^ ================
Implementations
Lua
-- word size = 16 bits
-- memory size = 65536 words
function run(code)
local memory = {}
for i in 1,65536 do
memory[i] = 0
end
local a = 0
local b = 0
end
Python 3
# word size = unbounded (out of laziness)
# memory size = 65536 words
def run(code):
memory = [0] * 65536
a, b = (0, 0)
i = 0
while i < len(code):
i += 1
if __name__ == '__main__':
run(input())
Final EQRS score
Instrumentalities is completely original, scoring it a 60 for originality.
Its talk page has (will have) at least 5 comments, giving it no penalties.
Its computational class is (will be fully) proven, giving it a +10.
It has (will have) 3 implementations, giving it a +10.
It has (will have) more than 5 examples, giving it a +10.
This gives it a score range of 85 to 95, which allows it to compete with Nope.'s range of 80 to 95.
