xorvoid
xorvoid.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2023
xorvoid, a systems programmer, who writes about tiny compilers, language design, decompilation, and lock-free programming.
What HN saysHN links it for SectorC, a C compiler in 512 bytes, which commenters cite as the smallest C compiler they know.
20HN people shared it
6linked it in comments
24stories submitted
461story points
7 months agolast shared
2023people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1SectorC: A C Compiler in 512 bytes (2023)7 people · 13 points · first shared 2023 · 1 comments on HN
- 2Forsp: A Forth+Lisp Hybrid Lambda Calculus Language4 people · 229 points · first shared 2024 · 104 comments on HN
- 3Learn you Galois fields for great good (2023)4 people · 174 points · first shared 2024 · 30 comments on HN
- 4Garbage Collection3 people · 21 points · first shared 2024 · 1 comments on HN
- 5Lockfree Programming: A Mental Model3 people · 9 points · first shared 2023 · 2 comments on HN
- 6xorvoid2 people · 3 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 7Dis86: A decompiler for x86 16-bit real-mode binaries1 people · 4 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 8Calico Basin Scrambling1 people · 2 points · first shared 2026 · discussion on HN
- 9Reversing a Mystery Function1 people · 2 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 10Hydra: A hybrid runtime for x86-16 and Aarch641 people · 1 points · first shared 2024 · discussion on HN
- 11The Door1 people · 1 points · first shared 2026 · discussion on HN
- 12Milk and Cookies: An Abstract Algebra1 people · 1 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 13ChatGPT: A Mental Model1 people · 1 points · first shared 2023 · discussion on HN
- 14Otcc deobfuscated1 people · first shared 2026
What HN people wrote when they linked it
xorvoid · 2025-12-27
Indeed. I'd suggest Susskind's Theoretical Minimum: Classical Mechanics if someone wants an introduction. He doesn't explicitly prove Noether but he demonstrates the connection between symmetry and conservation laws building the intuition to properly appreciate Noether.
I've also written a series on Abstract Algebra for computer programmers if you're serious about learning it:
https://xorvoid.com/galois_fields_for_great_good_00.html
xelxebar · 2025-12-15
Oh, cool! SmithForth[0] is how I originally learned about x86-64 microarchitecture. It's a Forth that bootstraps off hand-coded x86-64 opcodes. I decided to go the other direction and decompile the binary by hand. It really is a beautiful piece of code. Highly recommended reading.
Also, you're excited by Forth and Lisp, you might like Forsp[1]. It uses a call-by-push-value evaluation strategy in a way that really makes the language feel like a true hybrid of the two. The implementation is also brilliantly simple.
Anyway, thank you for the article. I lurk on the DuskOS mailing list and wish I could find out where the Forthers gather IRL so I could osmote more of their world into my own.
[0]:https://dacvs.neocities.org/SF/
[1]:https://xorvoid.com/forsp.html
tmtvl · 2026-02-09
I don't know for certain that it can compile and run SQLite, but the smallest C compiler I know of is SectorC: <https://xorvoid.com/sectorc.html>
senfiaj · 2026-02-08
There is even smaller C compiler that fits within the 512 bytes https://xorvoid.com/sectorc.html
alexisread · 2025-03-29
Not sure that will swing it, have a look at https://github.com/JohnEarnest/Mako/tree/master Which is basically a Forth for games, that runs on the JVM, and in the browser.
The issue as I see it, is that you have to have a model of the datastack in your head at all times. That's fine for your own code, but for other people's code, stack diagrams will only take you so far.
The ability to scan code, rather than reading it, allow you to mentally drill down when you are ready. Forth requires immersion.
Something like https://xorvoid.com/forsp.html I'm guessing is really the bridge. Something that allows variables without being too complex.
andai · 2023-11-07
Blog post with more details: https://xorvoid.com/sectorc.html