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Class: RubyVM::InstructionSequence

Relationships & Source Files
Inherits: Object
Defined in: iseq.c,
iseq.c

Overview

The InstructionSequence class represents a compiled sequence of instructions for the Ruby Virtual Machine.

With it, you can get a handle to the instructions that make up a method or a proc, compile strings of Ruby code down to VM instructions, and disassemble instruction sequences to strings for easy inspection. It is mostly useful if you want to learn how the Ruby VM works, but it also lets you control various settings for the Ruby iseq compiler.

You can find the source for the VM instructions in insns.def in the Ruby source.

The instruction sequence results will almost certainly change as Ruby changes, so example output in this documentation may be different from what you see.

Class Attribute Summary

Class Method Summary

Instance Method Summary

Constructor Details

.compile(source[, file[, path[, line[, options]]]]) ⇒ iseq .new(source[, file[, path[, line[, options]]]]) ⇒ iseq
Also known as: .compile

Takes source, a ::String of Ruby code and compiles it to an InstructionSequence.

Optionally takes file, #path, and line which describe the filename, absolute path and first line number of the ruby code in source which are metadata attached to the returned iseq.

options, which can be true, false or a ::Hash, is used to modify the default behavior of the Ruby iseq compiler.

For details regarding valid compile options see .compile_option=.

RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile("a = 1 + 2")
#=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<compiled>@<compiled>>

Class Attribute Details

.compile_option ⇒ options (rw)

Returns a hash of default options used by the Ruby iseq compiler.

For details, see .compile_option=.

.compile_option=(options) (rw)

Sets the default values for various optimizations in the Ruby iseq compiler.

Possible values for options include true, which enables all options, false which disables all options, and nil which leaves all options unchanged.

You can also pass a ::Hash of options that you want to change, any options not present in the hash will be left unchanged.

Possible option names (which are keys in options) which can be set to true or false include:

  • :inline_const_cache

  • :instructions_unification

  • :operands_unification

  • :peephole_optimization

  • :specialized_instruction

  • :stack_caching

  • :tailcall_optimization

  • :trace_instruction

Additionally, :debug_level can be set to an integer.

These default options can be overwritten for a single run of the iseq compiler by passing any of the above values as the options parameter to .new, .compile and .compile_file.

Class Method Details

.compile(source[, file[, path[, line[, options]]]]) ⇒ iseq .new(source[, file[, path[, line[, options]]]]) ⇒ iseq

Alias for .new.

.compile_file(file[, options]) ⇒ iseq

Takes file, a ::String with the location of a Ruby source file, reads, parses and compiles the file, and returns iseq, the compiled InstructionSequence with source location metadata set.

Optionally takes options, which can be true, false or a ::Hash, to modify the default behavior of the Ruby iseq compiler.

For details regarding valid compile options see .compile_option=.

# /tmp/hello.rb
puts "Hello, world!"

# elsewhere
RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile_file("/tmp/hello.rb")
#=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<main>@/tmp/hello.rb>

.disasm(body) ⇒ String .disassemble(body) ⇒ String
Also known as: .disassemble

Takes body, a ::Method or ::Proc object, and returns a ::String with the human readable instructions for body.

For a ::Method object:

# /tmp/method.rb
def hello
  puts "hello, world"
end

puts RubyVM::InstructionSequence.disasm(method(:hello))

Produces:

== disasm: <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:hello@/tmp/method.rb>============
0000 trace            8                                               (   1)
0002 trace            1                                               (   2)
0004 putself
0005 putstring        "hello, world"
0007 send             :puts, 1, nil, 8, <ic:0>
0013 trace            16                                              (   3)
0015 leave                                                            (   2)

For a ::Proc:

# /tmp/proc.rb
p = proc { num = 1 + 2 }
puts RubyVM::InstructionSequence.disasm(p)

Produces:

== disasm: <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:block in <main>@/tmp/proc.rb>===
== catch table
| catch type: redo   st: 0000 ed: 0012 sp: 0000 cont: 0000
| catch type: next   st: 0000 ed: 0012 sp: 0000 cont: 0012
|------------------------------------------------------------------------
local table (size: 2, argc: 0 [opts: 0, rest: -1, post: 0, block: -1] s1)
[ 2] num
0000 trace            1                                               (   1)
0002 putobject        1
0004 putobject        2
0006 opt_plus         <ic:1>
0008 dup
0009 setlocal         num, 0
0012 leave

.disasm(body) ⇒ String .disassemble(body) ⇒ String

Alias for .disasm.

.of(body)

Returns the instruction sequence containing the given proc or method.

For example, using irb:

# a proc
> p = proc { num = 1 + 2 }
> RubyVM::InstructionSequence.of(p)
> #=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:block in irb_binding@(irb)>

# for a method
> def foo(bar); puts bar; end
> RubyVM::InstructionSequence.of(method(:foo))
> #=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:foo@(irb)>

Using .compile_file:

# /tmp/iseq_of.rb
def hello
  puts "hello, world"
end

$a_global_proc = proc { str = 'a' + 'b' }

# in irb
> require '/tmp/iseq_of.rb'

# first the method hello
> RubyVM::InstructionSequence.of(method(:hello))
> #=> #<RubyVM::InstructionSequence:0x007fb73d7cb1d0>

# then the global proc
> RubyVM::InstructionSequence.of($a_global_proc)
> #=> #<RubyVM::InstructionSequence:0x007fb73d7caf78>

Instance Method Details

#absolute_path

Returns the absolute path of this instruction sequence.

nil if the iseq was evaluated from a string.

For example, using .compile_file:

# /tmp/method.rb
def hello
  puts "hello, world"
end

# in irb
> iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile_file('/tmp/method.rb')
> iseq.absolute_path #=> /tmp/method.rb

#base_label

Returns the base label of this instruction sequence.

For example, using irb:

iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile('num = 1 + 2')
#=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<compiled>@<compiled>>
iseq.base_label
#=> "<compiled>"

Using .compile_file:

# /tmp/method.rb
def hello
  puts "hello, world"
end

# in irb
> iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile_file('/tmp/method.rb')
> iseq.base_label #=> <main>

#disasm ⇒ String #disassemble ⇒ String
Also known as: #disassemble

Returns the instruction sequence as a ::String in human readable form.

puts RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile('1 + 2').disasm

Produces:

== disasm: <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<compiled>@<compiled>>==========
0000 trace            1                                               (   1)
0002 putobject        1
0004 putobject        2
0006 opt_plus         <ic:1>
0008 leave

#disasm ⇒ String #disassemble ⇒ String

Alias for #disasm.

#eval ⇒ Object

Evaluates the instruction sequence and returns the result.

RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile("1 + 2").eval #=> 3

#first_lineno

Returns the number of the first source line where the instruction sequence was loaded from.

For example, using irb:

iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile('num = 1 + 2')
#=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<compiled>@<compiled>>
iseq.first_lineno
#=> 1

#inspect

Returns a human-readable string representation of this instruction sequence, including the #label and #path.

#label

Returns the label of this instruction sequence.

<main> if it's at the top level, <compiled> if it was evaluated from a string.

For example, using irb:

iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile('num = 1 + 2')
#=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<compiled>@<compiled>>
iseq.label
#=> "<compiled>"

Using .compile_file:

# /tmp/method.rb
def hello
  puts "hello, world"
end

# in irb
> iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile_file('/tmp/method.rb')
> iseq.label #=> <main>

#line_trace_all

Experimental MRI specific feature, only available as C level api.

Returns all specified_line events.

#line_trace_specify(pos, set)

Experimental MRI specific feature, only available as C level api.

Set a specified_line event at the given line position, if the set parameter is true.

This method is useful for building a debugger breakpoint at a specific line.

A TypeError is raised if set is not boolean.

If pos is a negative integer a ::TypeError exception is raised.

#marshal_dump (private)

#marshal_load (private)

#path

Returns the path of this instruction sequence.

<compiled> if the iseq was evaluated from a string.

For example, using irb:

iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile('num = 1 + 2')
#=> <RubyVM::InstructionSequence:<compiled>@<compiled>>
iseq.path
#=> "<compiled>"

Using .compile_file:

# /tmp/method.rb
def hello
  puts "hello, world"
end

# in irb
> iseq = RubyVM::InstructionSequence.compile_file('/tmp/method.rb')
> iseq.path #=> /tmp/method.rb

#to_a ⇒ Array

Returns an ::Array with 14 elements representing the instruction sequence with the following data:

magic

A string identifying the data format. Always YARVInstructionSequence/SimpleDataFormat.

major_version

The major version of the instruction sequence.

minor_version

The minor version of the instruction sequence.

format_type

A number identifying the data format. Always 1.

misc

A hash containing:

:arg_size

the total number of arguments taken by the method or the block (0 if iseq doesn't represent a method or block)

:local_size

the number of local variables + 1

:stack_max

used in calculating the stack depth at which a SystemStackError is thrown.

#label

The name of the context (block, method, class, module, etc.) that this instruction sequence belongs to.

<main> if it's at the top level, <compiled> if it was evaluated from a string.

#path

The relative path to the Ruby file where the instruction sequence was loaded from.

<compiled> if the iseq was evaluated from a string.

#absolute_path

The absolute path to the Ruby file where the instruction sequence was loaded from.

nil if the iseq was evaluated from a string.

#first_lineno

The number of the first source line where the instruction sequence was loaded from.

type

The type of the instruction sequence.

Valid values are :top, :method, :block, :class, :rescue, :ensure, :eval, :main, and :defined_guard.

locals

An array containing the names of all arguments and local variables as symbols.

params

An Hash object containing parameter information.

More info about these values can be found in vm_core.h.

catch_table

A list of exceptions and control flow operators (rescue, next, redo, break, etc.).

bytecode

An array of arrays containing the instruction names and operands that make up the body of the instruction sequence.

Note that this format is MRI specific and version dependent.