Bout

Bout is an assembly-like esolang created by User:PythonshellDebugwindow.

Syntax

Bout programs consist of lines with opcodes followed by any arguments they might take.

Memory

Bout uses a tape to store values.

Operations

Opcode	# of Args	Effect
W	2	Set MEM[arg 1] to be V(arg 2)
A	1	Increment MEM[arg], or set it to 1 if it isn't set
D	1	Decrement MEM[arg], or set it to 0 if it isn't set (this does nothing if MEM[arg] is zero)
R	1	Print V(arg)
J	1	Jump unconditionally to 0-based line (V(arg))
N	2	Jump unconditionally to 0-based line (V(arg 1)) if arg 2 is nonzero
H	0	Halt the program

MEM[x] means MEM.getValue(V(x))

Meaning of V(x)

V(x) means that if x is a non-negative integer, return x; if x is a non-negative integer prefixed by a minus sign, return MEM[x]; if x is the dollars sign $, return a user-input non-negative integer (which returns 0 for invalid input); otherwise, return 0.

Examples

Infinite numeric cat

R $
J 0

Numeric cat until 0

W 0 $
N 3 -0
H
R -0
J 0

Truth-machine

W 0 $
N 4 -0
R 0
H
R 1
J 4

Computational class

Bout is Turing-complete, as a version of brainfuck with numeric I/O can be translated into it.

Translation from brainfuck

First, initialize a cell pointer:

W 0 1

To increment the cell pointer:

A 0

To decrement it:

D 0

But the clever part is that we can access cells dynamically, by using -0. To increment the current cell:

A -0

To decrement it:

D -0

Input:

W -0 $

Output:

R -0

Looping can be accomplished with jumps. Just be careful not to go below cell #1, as below that and the cell pointer will overwrite itself.

External resources

• An interpreter in NodeJS