varm - Virtual Abstract Runtime Machine

A simple educational ARM-like register-based virtual machine written in C.

What is varm?

varm is a minimal virtual machine implementing a simplified ARM instruction set. It is designed for learning how virtual machines and assembly language work.

Quick Start

# Build the project
./qol.sh build

# Assemble a program
./qol.sh examples/simple.asm -o program.varm

# Run a program
./qol.sh run program.varm

# Run all tests
./qol.sh test

Hello World

mov r0, #42      ; Set r0 to 42
halt             ; Stop execution

Project Structure

varm/
  examples/      - Example programs
  include/       - Header files
  src/           - Source code
    vm/          - VM core (memory, registers, instructions)
    asm/         - Assembler (lexer, parser)
    debug/       - Debugger (not yet implemented)
  tests/         - Test suite
  qol.sh         - Convenience script

Build System

• Meson for build configuration
• C99 standard
• No external dependencies

Usage

Command	Description
./qol.sh build	Build varm and vasm
./qol.sh asm <file.vasm> -o <file.varm>	Assemble to bytecode
./qol.sh run <file.varm>	Execute bytecode
./qol.sh test	Run all tests
./qol.sh clean	Clean build directory
./qol.sh help	Show help

Examples

Located in examples/:

File	Description
simple.vasm	Basic register move
test.vasm	Arithmetic operations

Further Reading

See REFERENCE.md for complete documentation of the instruction set, architecture, and assembly syntax.