Asking Help for Basic ICTL (IndianCoder3/abhinu-dev_basic-ictl)

[IndianCoder3]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

Body

Good Afternoon, I am IndianCoder3. I have recently made a hobby project: Abhinu.Dev Basic ICTL (Link is https://github.com/IndianCoder3/abhinu-dev_basic-ictl ). So, you can read the README, it's just a basic interpreter I made. What Python Library should I use for making a GUI command category? Like, turtle, or arcade, or anything else. Also, please rate it from 0-10. Also, please help me improve the web editor: https://basic-ictl-web-studio.onrender.com/

Thank you

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[ytaxx]

Good afternoon! Nice project for a hobby build.

GUI library: For a simple interpreter GUI, Pygame or Arcade are solid choices. Pygame has more tutorials and community support. Arcade is cleaner and more modern if you want object-oriented design. Avoid Turtle; it is too slow and limited for anything beyond basic demos.
Rating: 6/10.: Clean README, good structure for a first interpreter, but missing error handling and the web editor needs work (see below).

Web editor improvements:
Add syntax highlighting - Use CodeMirror or Monaco Editor (VS Code's editor) instead of a plain textarea
Live execution - Connect to a backend that actually runs the code, or compile to JavaScript for client-side execution
Save/load projects - LocalStorage at minimum, or GitHub integration
Mobile responsive - Current layout breaks on phones
Error feedback - Show line numbers and clear error messages when code fails
Keep building. Interpreters are great for learning language design fundamentals.

[IndianCoder3]

It does already use monaco, check it

[ytaxx]

Let me check the logic behind everything more carefully.

[IndianCoder3]

@ytaxx Well I was just scrolling, I found this article which you seem to have written... https://devactivity.com/insights/boosting-your-python-interpreter-project-community-insights-on-gui-and-web-editor-enhancements-for-your-github-tool/ , I have read it, actually, I do have monaco, It does have live Execution, It does work on mobile as well, You can save it, There's also clear errors if you do make typos, But what you have written is a different world... why?

[blaze0089]

---

For the GUI library, Pygame is the strongest choice for an interpreter like this since you can map your ICTL commands directly to Pygame draw calls, so users get simple drawing commands while you get full control underneath. Arcade works too and has a cleaner API but Pygame's community is much bigger so finding help is easier.

If you want zero extra installs, Tkinter canvas is built into Python and works fine for basic drawing commands, just slower for anything animated.

For Monaco specifically since you already have it set up, one thing worth adding is keyboard shortcuts — Ctrl+Enter to run and Ctrl+S to save feel very natural in a code editor and Monaco supports them natively with just a few lines:

editor.addCommand(monaco.KeyMod.CtrlCmd | monaco.KeyCode.Enter, () => {
  runCode();
});

Small thing but it makes the editor feel much more polished.

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[IndianCoder3]

i have ctrl s already... actually i started with pyqt5 and turtle rn.... unreleased dev... well ctrl enter is good suggestion thanks!

[IndianCoder3]

i dont know who is @ytaxx he just wrote a different world article lol i cant believe it i dont think he actually saw stuff

[blaze0089]

---

Glad Ctrl+Enter was useful! And nice that you already have Ctrl+S in there, the editor sounds really solid already.

For the PyQt5 + Turtle combo, that's actually a really fun direction for an interpreter. PyQt5 handles your window, buttons, and layout while Turtle does the actual drawing so they complement each other well. The one thing that trips people up is that Turtle has its own event loop and PyQt5 has its own too, so if you just run them together they'll fight each other and one will freeze.

The fix is to never call turtle.mainloop() or turtle.done() at all. Instead let PyQt5 drive everything and use a QTimer to tick your drawing updates:

from PyQt5.QtCore import QTimer

timer = QTimer()
timer.timeout.connect(your_draw_function)
timer.start(16)  # roughly 60fps

That way PyQt5 stays in control and Turtle just draws when told to. Once you get that pattern working it becomes really smooth. Good luck with the unreleased build, sounds like its coming along nicely!

---

[blaze0089]

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Actually went through the source code properly this time so this is based on what's actually in there.

First the impressive stuff — the math engine in math.py is genuinely well built. You implemented a full shunting-yard algorithm with a tokenizer and RPN evaluator from scratch. That's not beginner work at all, most hobby interpreters just call eval() and call it a day. The expression caching with CACHE = {} is a nice touch too.

Found one real bug though in runtime.py. The _last_if_executed variable is a single global which breaks with nested If/Else blocks. Try this:

Program.If(True) {
    Program.If(False) {
        Terminal.Echo("inner if")
    }
    Program.Else {
        Terminal.Echo("inner else")
    }
}
Program.Else {
    Terminal.Echo("this should NOT print but it will")
}

The inner Program.If(False) sets _last_if_executed = False, so by the time the outer Program.Else runs it sees False and executes when it shouldn't. The fix is swapping the global for a stack:

_if_stack = []

# in Program.If handler:
_if_stack.append(bool(result))

# in Program.Else handler:
if _if_stack and not _if_stack[-1]:
    for item in lines:
        run_item(item)
if _if_stack:
    _if_stack.pop()

One other small thing in app.py — you're writing all user code to the same temp.ictl file. That works fine for a single user but if two people hit run at the same time they'll overwrite each other. Easy fix is using Python's tempfile module:

import tempfile

with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w', suffix='.ictl', delete=False, encoding='utf-8') as f:
    f.write(code)
    tmp_path = f.name

Overall the project is way more solid than most hobby interpreters. The error handler with caret pointers, the WebSocket streaming, the custom Monaco language definition — all of that is genuinely good work.

---

[IndianCoder3]

@blaze0089 do you have anything like discord or anything? if yes add me @indiancoder3_alt discord, also the tempfile all that fix is very helpful... I will commit today the Beta release... but not the built executeables as its hard rn...

[IndianCoder3]

Well, if you do correct it, I am grateful if you do make corrections,like litreally if someone goes to search IndianCoder3 on google the article ranks up... also if they dont know if the info is real it makes a bad impression like you can say

…

________________________________ From: ytax ***@***.***> Sent: Saturday, March 28, 2026 3:31 PM To: community/community ***@***.***> Cc: IndianCoder3 ***@***.***>; Author ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [community/community] Asking Help for Basic ICTL (IndianCoder3/abhinu-dev_basic-ictl) (Discussion #190925) My mistake! I should have checked more carefully before suggesting Monaco. Since you already have Monaco, here are better targeted improvements: Monaco specific upgrades: * Enable IntelliSense/autocomplete for your custom language using Monarch tokenizer * Add error squiggles by connecting your interpreter's parser to Monaco's marker system * Implement F5 to run keybinding with visual output panel * Add line numbers to error messages so Monaco can jump to the problem line Web editor priorities: * Actual execution - The editor looks good but does it run the code? I do not see output integration * Save to GitHub - Since you have the repo, add "Publish to Gist" or commit directly * Shareable links - Encode programs in URL hash so users can share code snippets What is your current execution flow? Does the Monaco editor send code to a backend, or is it purely frontend right now? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#190925?email_source=notifications&email_token=B33EL4OCJSUHKRZSIPLJTN34S6PHLA5CNFSNUABIM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2ENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQXTCNRTGU2DSMRUUZZGKYLTN5XKMYLVORUG64VFMV3GK3TUVRTG633UMVZF6Y3MNFRWW#discussioncomment-16354924>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B33EL4OHV2RRTKGMECGNWRL4S6PHLAVCNFSM6AAAAACXC3J72CVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMMZVGQ4TENA>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[IndianCoder3]

@blaze Thank you for pointing out the issue, would you like to collaborate?

…

________________________________ From: Blaze ***@***.***> Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2026 12:47 AM To: community/community ***@***.***> Cc: IndianCoder3 ***@***.***>; Author ***@***.***> Subject: Re: [community/community] Asking Help for Basic ICTL (IndianCoder3/abhinu-dev_basic-ictl) (Discussion #190925)

________________________________ Actually went through the source code properly this time so this is based on what's actually in there. First the impressive stuff — the math engine in math.py is genuinely well built. You implemented a full shunting-yard algorithm with a tokenizer and RPN evaluator from scratch. That's not beginner work at all, most hobby interpreters just call eval() and call it a day. The expression caching with CACHE = {} is a nice touch too. Found one real bug though in runtime.py. The _last_if_executed variable is a single global which breaks with nested If/Else blocks. Try this: Program.If(True) { Program.If(False) { Terminal.Echo("inner if") } Program.Else { Terminal.Echo("inner else") } } Program.Else { Terminal.Echo("this should NOT print but it will") } The inner Program.If(False) sets _last_if_executed = False, so by the time the outer Program.Else runs it sees False and executes when it shouldn't. The fix is swapping the global for a stack: _if_stack = [] # in Program.If handler: _if_stack.append(bool(result)) # in Program.Else handler: if _if_stack and not _if_stack[-1]: for item in lines: run_item(item) if _if_stack: _if_stack.pop() One other small thing in app.py — you're writing all user code to the same temp.ictl file. That works fine for a single user but if two people hit run at the same time they'll overwrite each other. Easy fix is using Python's tempfile module: import tempfile with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w', suffix='.ictl', delete=False, encoding='utf-8') as f: f.write(code) tmp_path = f.name Overall the project is way more solid than most hobby interpreters. The error handler with caret pointers, the WebSocket streaming, the custom Monaco language definition — all of that is genuinely good work.

________________________________ — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub<#190925 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe<https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/B33EL4OLTDAGI7FDCCQUWZD42IRMJAVCNFSM6AAAAACXC3J72CVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTMOBYGMZTGMQ>. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS<https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[blaze0089]

Hey, really appreciate the offer and honestly the project is solid enough that collaborating would be fun! But I'm pretty deep into another project called Vortex right now that's taking up most of my time, so I wouldn't be able to give ICTL the attention it deserves as a collaborator.
That said, the fixes I mentioned are straightforward to implement — the if stack swap especially is maybe 10 lines of changes and it'll make nested conditions work properly. Once you ship the Beta feel free to tag me here if you run into anything and I'll take a look when I can.
Good luck with the release!