Stack Machine with Strings

Question

I'm making a stack based virtual machine in RPython using the PyPy toolchain to convert the RPython to C. So far I have 4 instructions.

1. EOP - End of Program
2. EOI - End of Instruction
3. PUSH - Push item onto the stack
4. PRINT - Print the top of the stack

My question is, how do you push a String to the top of the stack. Is it the same as when you push a number to the top of the stack or do I have to do something else when working with strings?

Answer 1

That depends. Do you want to push the string, or a pointer to a string? If it's the former, you have a problem, because the string will have variable length, unlike a pointer or a number. If it's the latter, you have to consider memory management aside from your stack.