Just for fun - ArnoldC

In these days programming skills became one of the most useful and well payed skills in the labor market. People working in the area know, that learning some popular programming languages can ease your life. You will benefit from it in your work, but you can make some of your everyday task easier, too. For example when you have a bunch of digital music albums in FLAC format and the name of the tracks are Track1, Track2, and so on, you can spend half of your day renaming them one at a time or you can just write a little script to do it for you in a few seconds.

There are a vast amount of programming languages out there. Some of them are specialized, good or just lucky enough to get in the spotlight. There are useful programming languages for writing binary or script codes, developing websites, learning the basics, and there are the languages written just for fun. They are typically useless, harder to program with and are messing with your brain, but they have one common feature: they are fun to program with. I've bumped into one of these languages recently: the ArnoldC.

ArnoldC is a parsing library written in Scala. It is a simple translator which compiles basic syntaxes into Java code. The twist is that these syntaxes are famous quotes from Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lauri Hartikka wrote this library and on his page the following can be read about his motivation: 

"Although the one-liners of Arnold Schwarzenegger are fairly well known the true semantics of the uttering is yet to be understood. This project tries to discover new meanings from the Arnold movies with the means of computer science".

The ArnoldC language takes only basic systaxes, whereof most of them can be found in the C language, creating an imperative and semantically raw language. However you can type in famous one-liners of Arnold Schwarzenegger and they make a working program, which is very fun.
You can download the ArnoldC Java library with the command wget http://lhartikk.github.io/ArnoldC.jar ran from terminal.

It's so simple, the most basic programming examples are defined in hundreds of lines. You have to declare every function, since the ArnoldC can only understand the plus, minus, multiplication, division, greater than, and and or operators. I tried to program a solution for a very simple problem: calculate the perimeter and the area of a triangle based on the length of its sides.

The first problem is, that with keywords as long as these, it is very easy to make grammatical mistakes. To avoid such annoying problems, I like to use gedit with its built-in language recognition and highlighting. The only problem is, that it doesn't have a vocabulary for ArnoldC (why would it have?). To overcome this problem, I quickly edited the c.lang xml vocabulary to recognize this language. You can download it here or from the sidebar if you would like to. You have to copy it in the /usr/share/gtksourceview-currentversion/language-specs directory. The "currentversion" for me is 3.0.

With this language extension, I could concentrate on the semantics. I planned a very simple structure, it starts with the length of the sides (yes, there isn't a read function in the current version), checks if the triangle is valid (the sum of every two sides must be greater than the third side), then calculates the perimeter and the area. However, it came to light in an early stage, that besides the checking and the calculating functions, I have to define a square root function, too. Now there comes an other annoying feature of this language: you can only declare integer and boolean variables. So the square root function will only calculate an approximate value. I don't want to write down every step in making the final code, see the result for yourself.

 IT'S SHOWTIME  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE A  
 YOU SET US UP 11  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE B  
 YOU SET US UP 25  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE C  
 YOU SET US UP 30  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE CHECK  
 YOU SET US UP @NO PROBLEMO  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE CHECKSUM  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 GET YOUR ASS TO MARS CHECKSUM  
 DO IT NOW CHECKING A B  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER CHECK  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION C  
 LET OFF SOME STEAM BENNET CHECKSUM  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 BECAUSE I'M GOING TO SAY PLEASE CHECK  
   TALK TO THE HAND "Invalid triangle."  
 BULLSHIT  
   GET YOUR ASS TO MARS CHECKSUM  
   DO IT NOW CHECKING A C  
   GET TO THE CHOPPER CHECK  
   HERE IS MY INVITATION B  
   LET OFF SOME STEAM BENNET CHECKSUM  
   ENOUGH TALK  
   BECAUSE I'M GOING TO SAY PLEASE CHECK  
     TALK TO THE HAND "Invalid triangle."  
   BULLSHIT  
     GET YOUR ASS TO MARS CHECKSUM  
     DO IT NOW CHECKING C B  
     GET TO THE CHOPPER CHECK  
     HERE IS MY INVITATION A  
     LET OFF SOME STEAM BENNET CHECKSUM  
     ENOUGH TALK  
     BECAUSE I'M GOING TO SAY PLEASE CHECK  
       TALK TO THE HAND "Invalid triangle."  
     BULLSHIT  
       HEY CHRISTMAS TREE PERI  
       YOU SET US UP 0  
       HEY CHRISTMAS TREE AREA  
       YOU SET US UP 0  
       GET YOUR ASS TO MARS PERI  
       DO IT NOW RESULTPERI A B C  
       TALK TO THE HAND "The perimeter of the triangle is:"  
       TALK TO THE HAND PERI  
       GET YOUR ASS TO MARS AREA  
       DO IT NOW RESULTAREA A B C PERI  
       TALK TO THE HAND "The approx. area of the triangle is:"  
       TALK TO THE HAND AREA  
     YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR LOGIC  
   YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR LOGIC  
 YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR LOGIC  
 YOU HAVE BEEN TERMINATED  
   
 LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY RESULTPERI  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE A  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE B  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE C  
 GIVE THESE PEOPLE AIR  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE PERIMETER  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER PERIMETER  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION A  
 GET UP B  
 GET UP C  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 I'LL BE BACK PERIMETER  
 HASTA LA VISTA, BABY  
   
 LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY RESULTAREA  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE A  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE B  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE C  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE PERIMETER  
 GIVE THESE PEOPLE AIR  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE AREA  
 YOU SET US UP 1  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE AREATEMP  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE SEMIPERI  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER SEMIPERI  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION PERIMETER  
 HE HAD TO SPLIT 2  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREATEMP  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION SEMIPERI  
 GET DOWN A  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREA  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION AREA  
 YOU'RE FIRED AREATEMP  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREATEMP  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION SEMIPERI  
 GET DOWN B  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREA  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION AREA  
 YOU'RE FIRED AREATEMP  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREATEMP  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION SEMIPERI  
 GET DOWN C  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREA  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION AREA  
 YOU'RE FIRED AREATEMP  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER AREA  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION AREA  
 YOU'RE FIRED SEMIPERI  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET YOUR ASS TO MARS AREA  
 DO IT NOW SQRT AREA  
 I'LL BE BACK AREA  
 HASTA LA VISTA, BABY  
   
 LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY CHECKING  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE SIDE1  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE SIDE2  
 GIVE THESE PEOPLE AIR  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE CHECKSUM  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER CHECKSUM  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION SIDE1  
 GET UP SIDE2  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 I'LL BE BACK CHECKSUM  
 HASTA LA VISTA, BABY  
   
 LISTEN TO ME VERY CAREFULLY SQRT  
 I NEED YOUR CLOTHES YOUR BOOTS AND YOUR MOTORCYCLE NUM  
 GIVE THESE PEOPLE AIR  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE COUNTER  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE I  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE BOOL  
 YOU SET US UP @NO PROBLEMO  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE D  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE A  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE P  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 HEY CHRISTMAS TREE SQRTRESULT  
 YOU SET US UP 0  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER NUM  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION NUM  
 GET UP 1  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 STICK AROUND BOOL  
   GET TO THE CHOPPER I  
   HERE IS MY INVITATION COUNTER  
   YOU'RE FIRED COUNTER  
   ENOUGH TALK  
   GET TO THE CHOPPER BOOL  
   HERE IS MY INVITATION NUM  
   LET OFF SOME STEAM BENNET I  
   ENOUGH TALK  
   GET TO THE CHOPPER COUNTER  
   HERE IS MY INVITATION COUNTER  
   GET UP 1  
   ENOUGH TALK  
 CHILL  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER NUM  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION NUM  
 GET DOWN 1  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER D  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION NUM  
 GET DOWN I  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER COUNTER  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION COUNTER  
 YOU'RE FIRED 2  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER P  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION D  
 HE HAD TO SPLIT COUNTER  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER COUNTER  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION COUNTER  
 HE HAD TO SPLIT 2  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER A  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION COUNTER  
 GET UP P  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER P  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION P  
 YOU'RE FIRED P  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER D  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION A  
 YOU'RE FIRED 2  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER D  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION P  
 HE HAD TO SPLIT D  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 GET TO THE CHOPPER SQRTRESULT  
 HERE IS MY INVITATION A  
 GET DOWN D  
 ENOUGH TALK  
 I'LL BE BACK SQRTRESULT  
 HASTA LA VISTA, BABY  

There were one last thing that didn't let me rest. To run a code from a .arnoldc file, you have to compile it first then run it from a Java environment. After these steps, the compiled .class file will remain on your computer, so you have to remove it manually. Maybe it only disturbs me, but I wrote a script that can handle this procedure with one command line. For instructions of its usage, please cd a terminal to the script and type ./arnoldc.sh -u. Note that you can only run the script if it has executable permission. You can download the script from here or from the sidebar.

As a conclusion ArnoldC is a very exciting experiment. It's in an early stage (version 0.1) and I'm looking forward to future implementations of various C like syntaxes. It's simple, it's slow, it's hard to master and it is very annoying. On the other side, you can get an insight into the most basic functions you're using in your codes everyday. It is a great way to practice and understand and if you didn't notice it yet: you can program with Arnold Schwarzenegger quotes. I can only encourage everyone who like programming to give it a try.