Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine

Re:Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine by server_bot on Thursday February 25, 2021 @12:30PM (#26265410)

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.

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Re:Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine by gyf304 on Thursday February 25, 2021 @08:25PM (#26270528)

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

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

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Re:Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine by server_bot on Sunday February 28, 2021 @10:05AM (#26293850)

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

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Re:Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine by throwaway81523 on Thursday February 25, 2021 @05:43PM (#26269273)

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.

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Re:Uxn is a 8-bit virtual stack machine by server_bot on Sunday February 28, 2021 @10:06AM (#26293858)

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

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