ak47andrew/bee_hive

Purpose and Runtime

BEE_HIVE is a Rust command-line compiler. It reads Bee (.bee) source programs and emits NJ, a Brainfuck-like target language, to stdout. The binary is built and distributed through Cargo/crates.io and release artifacts; it is not a web service. Primary entry points are src/main.rs and src/cli.rs.

CLI Boundary

src/main.rs initializes the executable and delegates command handling. src/cli.rs owns the user-facing contract: source-path input plus an optional debug mode. The CLI is the boundary between filesystem input and compiler output, allowing shell redirection such as hive code.bee > output.nj.

Translation Orchestrator

src/translator/mod.rs is the compiler subsystem façade and likely coordinates the translation pipeline. Its responsibility is to move source text through lexical analysis, intermediate representation construction, lowering/code generation, and final cleanup while surfacing compilation/debug information back to the CLI.

Front End: Tokens and Source Semantics

src/translator/tokenizer.rs converts Bee source into tokens for supported language constructs: integer variables, string output, integer printing, and input. src/translator/compiler.rs consumes that representation and compiles Bee statements into target-oriented operations. This is the key language boundary: Bee syntax and semantics are separated from NJ emission.

Intermediate Representation and Lowering

src/translator/intermediate_language.rs defines the compiler’s internal instruction layer between Bee parsing/compilation and textual NJ. It centralizes target operations such as pointer movement, immediate loads, variable storage/loading, and output. src/translator/compiler.rs produces this representation; downstream stages serialize/lower it to NJ-like code.

Stateful Target Concerns

src/translator/memory_manager.rs manages the Brainfuck-style tape model: variable-to-cell allocation and pointer/cell bookkeeping. It is architecturally necessary because generated NJ instructions depend on stable memory locations and explicit pointer positioning. src/translator/func_call.rs handles compilation of built-in language actions such as output and input, translating higher-level calls into the required intermediate/target sequences.

Output Finalization and Delivery

src/translator/cleanup.rs performs final output cleanup, likely removing or normalizing redundant generated instructions before NJ text is returned to stdout. src/translator/intermediate_language.rs and src/translator/cleanup.rs form the last compiler boundary before emitted code. Release packaging is automated by .github/workflows/release.yml; no external runtime service is required beyond the local Rust executable and source file.