Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine

wiki.xxiivv.com

19 pointsharporoeder5 comments

Love the idea of a minimal retro VM, had a chuckle at the single-byte program counter. Hope this catches on and there's a software ecosystem.

Does anyone know of a list of quirky VMs like this one?

The Pico-8 comes to mind since it's also a fantasy console, but wondering if there are other esoteric emulators - maybe even ones that had real-world use at some point.

The program counter says single short, which normally means two bytes. The VM is cute but I don't understand its purpose: it doesn't gain much from its minimalism. I don't see much reason to emulate it in software if the host can run something better. Look instead at something like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWEET16 or Forth.

Thanks! You're right about the PC, misread the table.

There’s also ZPU. Which is straightforward enough to write an emulator for in an afternoon.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZPU_(microprocessor)

Thanks for the suggestion! Unlike uxn, there's a C compiler for ZPU: https://github.com/zylin/zpugcc

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