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A tiny high-level language runtime for embedded computing with the power of C and the extensibility of Forth or LISP.


We are delighted to announce the successful completion of a tiny footprint high-level computing language for high-speed, low-power, embedded computing on bare silicon (no BIOS, no OS). In terms of size, cost, and carbon footprint, the kernel clocks in at 730 bytes which includes a fully extensible runtime kernel providing DSL (domain specific language) capability for application specific computing.
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The Sacred & the Profane: the search for simplicity in the total hardware-software combination


If you haven’t done so already, you may want to start by reading the Preface to Knowledge Engineering & Emerging Technologies.


January 31st, 2024 (4th ed)1

When designing a system, what should you optimize? If it is a user-interface or process, you should be minimizing clicks, or process steps. But for hardware-software systems, the answer is not obvious, and a common mistake is to fail to consider the end-to-end problem. This article explores what is involved in optimizing end-to-end in hardware-software systems. The goal here is to minimize the overall complexity of the system, i.e. of the triple hardware-software-user combination. The following remarks set the stage for our discussion:

  1. “Any [one] can make things bigger, more complex. It takes a touch of genius, and a lot of courage, to move in the opposite direction.” – Ernst F. Schumacher, 1973, from “Small is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered”.2
  2. “The goal [is] simple: to minimize the complexity of the hardware-software combination. [Apart from] some lip service perhaps, no-one is trying to minimize the complexity of anything and that is of great concern to me.” – Chuck Moore, [Moore, 1999] (For a succinct introduction to Chuck Moore’s minimalism, see Less is Moore by Sam Gentle, [Gentle, 2015]
  3. “We are reaching the stage of development [in computer science] where each new generation of participants is unaware both of their overall technological ancestry and the history of the development of their speciality, and have no past to build upon.” – J.A.N. Lee, [Lee, 1996, p.54].
  4. “The arc of change is long, but it bends towards simplicity”, paraphrasing Martin Luther King.3

Between complexity and simplicity, progress, and new layers of abstraction.

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  1. 3rd ed. (Jul 20, 2021), 2nd ed. (Apr 9, 2014, addition of GCC history), 1st ed. (May 2, 2010)
  2. This quote by Ernst F. Schumacher is often incorrectly attributed to Einstein
  3. Martin Luther King’s actual phrase was “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”, 1965 You can see an example of this in Ian Hogarth’s discussion about the contest between tokamak and stellerator in the evolution of nuclear fusion technology. (Short version: the tomkamak surged ahead despite its complexity to operate as it was easy to design, but the real breakthrough will likely be achieved by the stellerator as it is simple to operate though harder to design.)

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Reading List…

Looking for the best long-form articles on this site? Below is a curated list by the main topics covered.

Mathematics History & Philosophy

  1. What is Mathematics?
  2. Prehistoric Origins of Mathematics
  3. The Mathematics of Uruk & Susa (3500-3000 BCE)
  4. How Algebra Became Abstract: George Peacock & the Birth of Modern Algebra (England, 1830)
  5. The Rise of Mathematical Logic: from Laws of Thoughts to Foundations for Mathematics
  6. Mathematical Finance and The Rise of the Modern Financial Marketplace
  7. A Course in the Philosophy and Foundations of Mathematics
  8. The Development of Mathematics
  9. Catalysts in the Development of Mathematics
  10. Characteristics of Modern Mathematics

Topics in Mathematics: Pure & Applied Mathematics

  1. Fuzzy Classifiers & Quantile Statistics Techniques in Continuous Data Monitoring
  2. LOGIC in a Nutshell: Theory & Applications (including a FORTH simulator and digital circuit design)
  3. Finite Summation of Integer Powers: (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)
  4. The Mathematics of Duelling
  5. A Radar Tracking Approach to Data Mining
  6. Analysis of Visitor Statistics: Data Mining in-the-Small
  7. Why Zero Raised to the Zero Power IS One

Technology: Electronics & Embedded Computing

  1. Electronics in the Junior School - Gateway to Technology
  2. Coding for Pre-Schoolers - A Turtle Logo in Forth
  3. Experimenting with Microcontrollers - an Arduino development kit for under £12
  4. Making Sensors Talk for under £5, and Voice Controlled Hardware
  5. Computer Programming: A brief survey from the 1940s to the present
  6. Forth, Lisp, & Ruby: languages that make it easy to write your own domain specific language (DSL)
  7. Programming Microcontrollers: Low Power, Small Footprints & Fast Prototypes
  8. Building a 13-key pure analog electronic piano.
  9. TinyPhoto: Embedded Graphics and Low-Fat Computing
  10. Computing / Software Toolkits
  11. Assembly Language programming (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)
  12. Bare Bones Programming: The C Language

Technology: Sensors & Intelligent Systems

  1. Knowledge Engineering & the Emerging Technologies of the Next Decade
  2. Sensors and Systems
  3. Unmanned Autonomous Systems & Networks of Sensors
  4. The Advance of Marine Micro-ROVs

Maths Education

  1. Maxima: A Computer Algebra System for Advanced Mathematics & Physics
  2. Teaching Enriched Mathematics, Part 1
  3. Teaching Enriched Mathematics, Part 2: Levelling Student Success Factors
  4. A Course in the Philosophy and Foundations of Mathematics
  5. Logic, Proof, and Professional Communication: five reflections
  6. Good mathematical technique and the case for mathematical insight

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