Scott Hanselman

NotMuchofAREPL - CSREPL back-ported for .NET 1.1

May 27, 2005 Comment on this post [0] Posted in Programming
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NotsoreplLately Don Box has been exploring just how dynamic a language C# can be.

Here's his REPL for C# code, with backward changes so you can play with it on .NET 1.1 since 1.1 doesn't have anonymous delegates.

I call it NotMuchOfAREPL. Diffs highlighted. I haven't run that many expressions through it so be warned. That said, it's pretty slick. There's a lot of untapped potential in the language (and that wouldn't require IL changes) that could be unlocked with a few new keywords. It's a very exciting time.

    1 using System;
    2 using System.Reflection;
    3 using System.Text;
    4 using System.CodeDom.Compiler;
    5 
    6 namespace notmuchofarepl 
    7 {
    8     class Program 
    9     {
   10         static string funcPrefix = "using System;\r\n"
   11             + "public delegate void Proc();\r\n"
   12             + "public class Wrapper { \r\n"
   13             + "  public static object Set(string name, object value) { \r\n"
   14             + "    AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetData(name, value);\r\n"
   15             + "    return value; \r\n"
   16             + "  }\r\n"
   17             + "  public static object Get(string name) { \r\n"
   18             + "    return AppDomain.CurrentDomain.GetData(name);\r\n"
   19             + "  }\r\n"
   20             + "  public static object Invoke(Proc proc) { \r\n"
   21             + "    proc();\r\n"
   22             + "    return null; \r\n"
   23             + "  }\r\n"
   24             + "  public static void notSoAnon() { \r\n";
   25         static string funcInter = "  ;"
   26             + "  }\r\n"
   27             + "  public static object Eval() { return ";
   28         static string funcSuffix = "; \r\n} }";
   29 
   30         static string StringEval(string expr, string voidExpr) 
   31         {
   32             string program = funcPrefix + voidExpr + funcInter + expr + funcSuffix;
   33 
   34             ICodeCompiler compiler = new Microsoft.CSharp.CSharpCodeProvider().CreateCompiler();
   35 
   36             CompilerParameters cp = new CompilerParameters();
   37             cp.GenerateExecutable = false;
   38             cp.GenerateInMemory = true;
   39 
   40             CompilerResults results = compiler.CompileAssemblyFromSource(cp, program);
   41             if (results.Errors.HasErrors) 
   42             {
   43                 if (results.Errors[0].ErrorNumber == "CS1525")
   44                     return StringEval("Invoke(new Proc(notSoAnon))",expr);
   45                 return results.Errors[0].ErrorText;
   46             }
   47             else 
   48             {
   49                 Assembly assm = results.CompiledAssembly;
   50                 Type target = assm.GetType("Wrapper");
   51                 MethodInfo method = target.GetMethod("Eval");
   52                 object result = method.Invoke(null, null);
   53                 return result == null ? null : result.ToString();
   54             }
   55         }
   56 
   57         static void Main(string[] args) 
   58         {
   59              while (true ) 
   60             {
   61                 Console.Write("> ");
   62                 Console.Out.Flush();
   63                 string expr = Console.ReadLine();
   64                 if (expr == null)
   65                     break;
   66                 try 
   67                 {
   68                     string result = StringEval(expr, String.Empty);
   69                     Console.WriteLine(result);
   70                 }
   71                 catch (TargetInvocationException ex) 
   72                 {
   73                     Console.WriteLine(ex.InnerException.GetType().Name + ": " + ex.InnerException.Message);
   74                 }
   75                 catch (Exception ex) 
   76                 {
   77                     Console.WriteLine(ex.GetType().Name + ": " + ex.Message);
   78                 }
   79             }
   80          }
   81     }
   82 }

About Scott

Scott Hanselman is a former professor, former Chief Architect in finance, now speaker, consultant, father, diabetic, and Microsoft employee. He is a failed stand-up comic, a cornrower, and a book author.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent my employer's view in any way.