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VonSim logo

VonSim

✨ https://vonsim.github.io ✨
A 8088-like Assembly Simulator


VonSim

VonSim is a tool designed for teaching and learning computer architecture. It consists of an environment for developing programs in assembly language and a simulator for them.

It is based on the Intel 8088 processor and features:

  • four 16-bit general-purpose registers;
  • a main memory of 32 kB;
  • a 16-bit address bus and an 8-bit data bus;
  • software interrupts (such as keyboard input and screen output);
  • hardware interrupts with a PIC (Programmable Interrupt Controller);
  • multiple devices: clock, switches, LEDs, and a Centronics printer.

These devices are inspired by their counterparts specified in Intel's iAPX 88 (or 8088 family). These are a set of devices designed by Intel to work seamlessly with the 8088 processor. More details can be found in the iAPX 88 User's Manual (1981).

Warning

This simulator is not intended to be a faithful emulator of the 8088. On the contrary, it aims to be a tool for teaching computer architecture. Therefore, multiple simplifications have been made compared to the 8088 that would make it difficult to use in a real environment. Likewise, the instruction set is much smaller than that of the 8088, and its encoding is simpler.

How to contribute

VonSim is coded entirely in TypeScript, a superset of JavaScript that adds type-checking and auto-completion. Also, the project is divided in multiple packages, each one with its own package.json (learn more about monorepos).

To get started, you'll need Node.js v20 and pnpm v9. Once you have them installed, you can run the following inside the repo:

$ pnpm install  # only the first time, install the dependencies
$ pnpm dev      # start the app dev server
$ pnpm docs:dev # start the docs dev server
$ pnpm build    # build for production

These are the packages inside the repo, all of them with their own README.md where you can learn more:

  • @vonsim/assembler: All the logic to assemble a program from plain text assembly.
  • @vonsim/simulator: All the logic run an assembled program.
  • @vonsim/app: The web app itself. It has all the UI and uses the simulator to run the program.

Also, there some support packages that are used by the packages above:

Finally, the documentation is inside @vonsim/docs.

Visual Studio Code Extension

When using Visual Studio Code, you can use the recommended extensions to get the best experience. Some extensions might have trouble finding the tailwind.config.ts file for auto-completion and linting. This can be solved by creating a .vscode/settings.json file with the following content:

{
  "eslint.workingDirectories": [{ "mode": "auto" }],
  "tailwindCSS.experimental.configFile": "./app/tailwind.config.ts"
}

To-do list

  • Welcome tour (with mentions to downloadable PWA)
  • Add Printer w/CDMA
  • Add Printer w/USART
  • Add I/O modules for screen and keyboard

License

This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 license.

© 2017-present Facundo Quiroga, Manuel Bustos Berrondo y Juan Martín Seery (III-LIDI, Facultad de Informática, UNLP).