Brainfuck

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Table of Contents

• Brainfuck
  • Table of Contents
  • Overview
  • Supported Engines
    • C++
    • Zig
  • Quick Install
    • C++
    • Zig
  • Usage
  • Examples
    • Hello World
    • Echo Input
    • Test Environment
    • Build Configuration
  • Benchmark
  • Features
  • Known Limitations
  • Project Structure
  • Contributing
  • License
  • Author

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Overview

This repository contains Brainfuck engines written in:

• C++
• Zig

The implementations explore different execution strategies for running Brainfuck programs.

• The C++ engine supports multiple execution modes consisting of a character interpreter and an IR-based virtual machine.
• The Zig engine is a minimal direct interpreter.

The project is designed for learning and experimentation with interpreter design, intermediate representations, and virtual machine runtimes.

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Supported Engines

C++

The C++ implementation provides a multi-engine Brainfuck runtime.

Features:

• Fixed-size memory tape (32768 cells)
• Supports all 8 Brainfuck instructions
• Detects unmatched brackets
• Prevents pointer underflow
• Runtime engine selection
• Optional REPL mode
• IR instruction collapsing optimization

Execution engines:

• Character Interpreter — executes Brainfuck instructions directly
• IR + Virtual Machine — compiles Brainfuck into an intermediate representation before execution

Zig

The Zig implementation provides a multi-engine Brainfuck runtime.

Features:

• Fixed-size memory model
• Supports all standard Brainfuck instructions
• Direct interpreter execution
• IR-based virtual machine execution
• Builds with zig build

Execution engines:

• Direct Interpreter — executes Brainfuck instructions directly
• IR + Virtual Machine — compiles Brainfuck into an intermediate representation before execution

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Quick Install

C++

cd engines/cpp
make
./brainfuck hello.bf

Zig

cd engines/zig
zig build
./zig-out/bin/brainfuck hello.bf

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Usage

All engines run by passing a .bf file as a command-line argument. Example:

./brainfuck program.bf
./zig-out/bin/brainfuck program.bf

The C++ engine also supports selecting the execution mode:

./brainfuck program.bf --mode=char
./brainfuck program.bf --mode=ir

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Examples

Hello World

++++++++++[>+++++++>++++++++++>+++>+<<<<-]>++.>+.+++++++..+++.>++.<<+++++++++++++++.>.+++.------.--------.>+.>.

Expected output:

Hello World!

Echo Input

,.

Type a character, and it will be printed back.

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Test Environment

• CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 M 460 @ 2.53GHz
• Cores / Threads: 2 cores / 4 threads
• RAM: 4 GB
• System: Dell Inspiron N5010
• OS: Windows 10 Home (Build 19045, x64)

Build Configuration

• Zig: ReleaseFast
• C++: -O3

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Benchmark

For Mandel Brot code

Run	C++ Interpreter (ms)	Zig Interpreter (ms)	C++ VM (ms)	Zig VM (ms)
1	994222	90883	50028	43827
2	101755	92457	42753	37110
3	100700	91428	36374	38758
4	112873	92705	33157	39720
5	106427	92208	31967	29985
Average	104235	91936.2	38855.8	37880

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Features

• Runs Brainfuck .b or .bf programs
• Supports >, <, +, -, ., ,, [, ]
• Multiple execution engines (C++)
• IR-based virtual machine (C++)
• Instruction collapsing optimizations (C++)
• Fixed-size memory model
• Bracket validation
• Pointer safety checks
• Optional REPL mode in both Zig and C++

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Known Limitations

• No memory expansion (C++ & Zig)
• Only basic IR optimizations implemented
• No debugging mode or step execution
• Input is character-based only
• Console encoding may vary by platform

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Project Structure

brainfuck
├── engines/
│   ├── cpp/
│   │   ├── src/          # C++ interpreter sources
│   │   └── Makefile
│   └── zig/
│       ├── src/          # Zig interpreter sources
│       ├── build.zig
│       └── build.zig.zon
│
├── examples/
│
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

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Contributing

Contributing guidelines will be added soon.

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License

MIT

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Author

Made with ❤️ by JourneyCodesAyush