We just landed a file enumeration API in the Orca WebAssembly SDK. This allows apps to query for all files within a given directory, which is performed in a single native call, and then iterate through them on the wasm side. An example with the C API:

void printFilesInDir(oc_arena* arena, const char* path)
{
    oc_file dir = oc_file_open(path, OC_FILE_ACCESS_READ, OC_FILE_OPEN_RESTRICT);
    if (oc_file_last_error(dir)) {
      return;
    }
    oc_file_list entries = oc_file_listdir(arena, dir);
    if (oc_file_last_error(dir)) {
      return;
    }
    oc_file_list_for(entries, elt) {
        oc_log_info("Found '%.*s' with type %d\n", oc_str8_ip(elt->basename), elt->type);
    }
}

There are still a few holes in the file IO API, but we’ll be working to flesh that out in the coming months.

In addition to regular unit/integration tests, Orca has test apps that have a special oc_on_test() hook. The runtime runs this hook and checks the exit code, relying on the app to log any failures. This can be used to test specific parts of the Orca SDK from the wasm side. These test apps are built and bundled the same way as normal Orca apps. Some recent improvements to the build system now allow bundling apps without requiring a system-wide install of the orca CLI tool. Now the CI can build and run the wasm tests just like the native tests, giving better visibility on potential SDK API breakage.

I fleshed out our Github Sponsors page and added some monthly tiers. They come with symbolic rewards, from getting a distinguishing role in the Orca Discord server, to having your name and link to your homepage listed at the bottom of the landing page of the Orca website. Higher tiers are a good option for companies that want to support Orca through Github Sponsors, and include some amount of consultancy. I also plan on later adding access to private repos to specific tiers, to share bonus content with sponsors (think tutorials, screencasts, or advanced example programs).

If you want to help our work, now is the perfect time to do so :) Thanks for your support!

Martin

We just merged the new Zig build system to replace our old Python build script. Reuben wrote about it here.

The Orca debugger is shaping up. It can pause on breakpoints and step in and out through source code or instructions, navigate call frames, and inspect most variables in unoptimized code.

I was invited on Zig Showtime to talk about Orca:

Our WebAssembly Debugger can now single step through source lines.

I started working on an integrated debugger for Orca. Here’s its very first steps, moving through the bytecode. You’ll notice it’s not WebAssembly bytecode. Instead our custom backend compiles WebAssembly to a register-based machine with jumps for more efficient interpretation (and later JIT-ing).