Show HN: Autolang-A C++ VM with 2ms startup time and arena-restart memory model

2 points by hoansdz 3 months ago · 0 comments · 1 min read

Hi HN, I’m a student and I’ve spent the last few months building Autolang—an embedded language and VM from scratch in C++.

I built it because I needed a specialized runtime for high-frequency, short-lived tasks (like AI agent loops) where Python/Lua startup latency and GC overhead become actual bottlenecks.

Core Architecture:

Arena-restart: No Tracing GC. It prioritizes allocation speed (~2x faster than Lua). Memory is wiped instantly between tasks via a restart() mechanism.

Fast Compilation: 100k classes compile in ~888ms (Single-pass).

Lightweight: The VM is designed for a ~2ms startup target.

The Trade-off: Execution is currently 2x-5x slower than Lua as I'm still optimizing the bytecode dispatch (if-chains).

I’d love to hear your thoughts on using Arena-restart for autonomous scripts and any advice on optimizing dispatch without bloating the startup time.

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