A Bytecode VM for an FRP Language for Small-Scale Embedded Systems

Emfrp is a functional reactive programming (FRP) language for resource-constrained systems such as microcontrollers. The language enables the concise description of reactive behavior specific to embedded systems. The current Emfrp compiler runs on a development host PC. Therefore, the program development, testing, and modification cycle is time-consuming. We have implemented an interpreter, Emfrp-REPL, which runs on the target device and enables interactive and rapid development using the REPL interface. The interpreter is designed to minimize I/O latency and employs snapshot GC to suppress latency fluctuations. However, the execution speed could be faster because the evaluation of expressions is based on AST traversal. In this study, we design and implement Emfrp-VM, a byte code VM for Emfrp, to solve this problem.