Lambda the Ultimate

I'd been playing around with interpreting Javascript in Javascript, building off the Narcissus interpreter. Then I implemented some sucky pseudo code and that got me thinking about algorithm visualisation and how to improve pseudo-code on the web. In an interactive medium there really is little reason why algorithms should still be presented as static text.

So I rewrote the Javascript interpreter in continuation-passing style, so that it's execution could be paused. And the result is Javascript code that runs in the browser but can be controlled and visualised. Code that a user can pause and step through to see the control flow. The interpreter is currently passing 95% of the ECMAScript Language test262 test suite.

On top of the Javascript interpreter I built an experimental wiki to explore making algorithms interactive on the web. There are still lots of things to do and to figure out (eg. security), but I think it is very promising.

I also mangled it with the WebKit inspector to produce a Javascript IDE, although it's a bit rough and buggy.


I'm very curious to hear what people think, and any suggestions.

More info: http://will.thimbleby.net/removing-the-pseudo-from-pseudo-code/
Wiki: http://will.thimbleby.net/algorithms
IDE: http://will.thimbleby.net/algorithms/inspector