xref: /arkcompiler/runtime_core/docs/file_format.md

# Panda Binary File Format

This document describes Panda binary file format with the following goals in mind:

* Compactness.
* Support for fast access to information.
* Support for low memory footprint.
* Extensibility and compatibility.

## Compactness

Many mobile applications use a lot of types, methods and fields. Their number is so large that it
doesn't fit in 16-bit unsigned integer. It leads to application developer have to create several
files and as a result not all data can be deduplicated.

Current binary file format should extend these limits to conform to the modern requirements.

To achieve this, all references in the binary file are 4 bytes long. It allows to have 4Gb for
addressing fields, methods, classes, etc.

The format uses [TaggedValue](#taggedvalue) which allows to store only information we have and
avoid 0 offsets to absent information.

But to achieve more compactness 16-bit indexes are used to refer classes, methods and fields in
the bytecode and some metadata. File can contain multiple indexes each one covers part of the
file and described by [RegionHeader](#regionheader).

## Fast information access

Binary file format should support fast access to information. It means that
redundant references should be avoided. Also, if it possible, binary file format should avoid data
indexes (like sorted list of strings). However, the described binary format supports one index:
a sorted list of offsets to classes. This index is compact and allows to find a type definition
quickly, which runtime requires a lot during application launch time.

All classes, fields and methods are separated into 2 groups: foreign and local.
Foreign classes, fields and methods are declared in other files, with references from the
current binary file. Local classes, fields and methods are declared in the current file.
Local entities has the same header as the corresponding foreign. So
having an offset to an entity it doesn't matter whether the entity is local or foreign.

Runtime can easily check type of an offset by checking it is in the foreign region
(*\[foreign_off; foreign_off + foreign_size)*).
Depending on the result runtime can search the entity in other files (for foreign entities)
or create a runtime object from the definition by the offset (for local entities).

To improve data access speed most data structures have 4 bytes alignment.
Since most target architectures are little endian all multibyte values are little endian.

## Offsets

Unless otherwise specified, all offsets are calculated from the beginning of the file.
An offset cannot contain values in the range *\[0; 32)*, except for specially mentioned cases.

## Support for low memory footprint

As practice shows, most of file data is not used by the application. It means memory footprint
of a file may be significantly reduced by grouping frequently used data.
To support this feature, the described binary file format uses offsets and doesn't specify how
structures should be located relatively to each other.

## Extensibility and compatibility

The binary file format supports future changes via version number.
The version field in the header is 4 bytes long and is encoded as byte array to
avoid misinterpretation on platforms with different endianness.

Any tool which supports format version `N` must support format version `N - 1` too.

## Data types

| Type       | Description                                  |
| ----       | -----------                                  |
| `uint8_t`  | 8-bit unsigned integer value                 |
| `uint16_t` | 16-bit unsigned integer value                |
| `uint32_t` | 32-bit little endian unsigned integer value. |
| `uleb128`  | unsigned integer value in leb128 encoding.   |
| `sleb128`  | signed integer value in leb128 encoding.     |

### MUTF-8 Encoding

Binary file format uses MUTF-8 (Modified UTF-8) encoding for strings.

### String

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format        | Description |
| ----               | ------        | ----------- |
| `utf16_length`     | `uleb128`     | `len << 1 \| is_ascii` where `len` is the length of the string in UTF-16 code units. |
| `data`             | `uint8_t[]`   | 0-terminated character sequence in MUTF-8 encoding. |

### TaggedValue

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format        | Description |
| ----               | ------        | ----------- |
| `tag_value`        | `uint8_t`     | The first 8 bits contain tag which determines the meaning of the data. Depending on the tag there may be optional data. Runtime must be able to determine size of the data. |
| `data`             | `uint8_t[]`   | Optional payload. |

## String syntax

### TypeDescriptor

```
TypeDescriptor -> PrimitiveType | ArrayType | RefType
PrimitiveType  -> 'Z' | 'B' | 'H' | 'S' | 'C' | 'I' | 'U' | 'J' | 'Q' | 'F' | 'D' | 'A'
ArrayType      -> '[' TypeDescriptor
RefType        -> 'L' ClassName ';'
```

`PrimitiveType` is a one letter encoding for primitive type

| Type  | Encoding |
| ----  | :--: |
| `u1`  | `Z` |
| `i8`  | `B` |
| `u8`  | `H` |
| `i16` | `S` |
| `u16` | `C` |
| `i32` | `I` |
| `u32` | `U` |
| `f32` | `F` |
| `f64` | `D` |
| `i64` | `J` |
| `u64` | `Q` |
| `any` | `A` |

`ClassName` is a qualified name of a class with `.` replaced with `/`.

## Access flags

#### Field access flags

| Name             | Value    | Description |
| ----             | :---:    | ----------- |
| `ACC_PUBLIC`     | `0x0001` | Declared public; may be accessed from outside its package. |
| `ACC_PRIVATE`    | `0x0002` | Declared private; usable only within the defining class. |
| `ACC_PROTECTED`  | `0x0004` | Declared protected; may be accessed within subclasses. |
| `ACC_STATIC`     | `0x0008` | Declared static. |
| `ACC_FINAL`      | `0x0010` | Declared final; never directly assigned to after object construction (JLS §17.5). |
| `ACC_VOLATILE`   | `0x0040` | Declared volatile; cannot be cached. |
| `ACC_TRANSIENT`  | `0x0080` | Declared transient; not written or read by a persistent object manager. |
| `ACC_SYNTHETIC`  | `0x1000` | Declared synthetic; not present in the source code. |
| `ACC_ENUM`       | `0x4000` | Declared as an element of an enum. |

#### Method access flags

| Name               | Value    | Description |
| ----               | :---:    | ----------- |
| `ACC_PUBLIC`       | `0x0001` | Declared public; may be accessed from outside its package. |
| `ACC_PRIVATE`      | `0x0002` | Declared private; accessible only within the defining class. |
| `ACC_PROTECTED`    | `0x0004` | Declared protected; may be accessed within subclasses. |
| `ACC_STATIC`       | `0x0008` | Declared static. |
| `ACC_FINAL`        | `0x0010` | Declared final; must not be overridden. |
| `ACC_SYNCHRONIZED` | `0x0020` | Declared synchronized; invocation is wrapped by a monitor use. |
| `ACC_BRIDGE`       | `0x0040` | A bridge method, generated by the compiler. |
| `ACC_VARARGS`      | `0x0080` | Declared with variable number of arguments. |
| `ACC_NATIVE`       | `0x0100` | Declared native; |
| `ACC_ABSTRACT`     | `0x0400` | Declared abstract; no implementation is provided. |
| `ACC_STRICT`       | `0x0800` | Declared strictfp; floating-point mode is FP-strict. |
| `ACC_SYNTHETIC`    | `0x1000` | Declared synthetic; not present in the source code. |

#### Class access flags

| Name             | Value    | Description |
| ----             | :---:    | ----------- |
| `ACC_PUBLIC`     | `0x0001` | Declared public; may be accessed from outside its package. |
| `ACC_FINAL`      | `0x0010` | Declared final; no subclasses allowed. |
| `ACC_SUPER`      | `0x0020` | No special meaning, exists for compatibility |
| `ACC_INTERFACE`  | `0x0200` | Is an interface, not a class. |
| `ACC_ABSTRACT`   | `0x0400` | Declared abstract; must not be instantiated. |
| `ACC_SYNTHETIC`  | `0x1000` | Declared synthetic; not present in the source code. |
| `ACC_ANNOTATION` | `0x2000` | Declared as an annotation type. |
| `ACC_ENUM`       | `0x4000` | Declared as an enum type. |

## Source language

A file can be emitted from sources that are written in following languages:

| Name             | Value         |
| ----             | ----          |
| Reserved         | `0x00`        |
| `Panda Assembly` | `0x01`        |
| Reserved         | `0x02 - 0x0f` |


Source language can be specified for classes and methods. For classes Panda Assembly language is assumed by default. Default language for methods is the class's one.

## Data layout

A file begins with the header which is located at offset 0.
All other data can be reached from the header.

### Header

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name                   | Format          | Description |
| ----                   | ------          | ----------- |
| `magic`                | `uint8_t[8]`    | Magic string. Must be 'P' 'A' 'N' 'D' 'A' '\\0' '\\0' '\\0' |
| `checksum`             | `uint8_t[4]`    | adler32 checksum of the file except magic and checksum fields. |
| `version`              | `uint8_t[4]`    | Version of the format. Current version is 0002. |
| `file_size`            | `uint32_t`      | Size of the file in bytes.  |
| `foreign_off`          | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the foreign region. The region must contain elements only of types [ForeignField](#foreignfield), [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod), or [ForeignClass](#foreignclass). It is not necessary `foreign_off` points to the first entity. Runtime should use `foreign_off` and `foreign_size` to determine type of an offset. |
| `foreign_size`         | `uint32_t`      | Size of the foreign region in bytes. |
| `num_classes`          | `uint32_t`      | Number of classes defined in the file. Also this is the number of elements in the [ClassIndex](#classindex) structure. |
| `class_idx_off`        | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the class index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [ClassIndex](#classindex) format. |
| `num_lnps`             | `uint32_t`      | Number of line number programs in the file. Also this is the number of elements in the [LineNumberProgramIndex](#linenumberprogramindex) structure. |
| `lnp_idx_off`          | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the line number program index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [LineNumberProgramIndex](#linenumberprogramindex) format. |
| `num_literalarrays`    | `uint32_t`      | Number of literalArrays defined in the file. Also this is the number of elements in the [LiteralArrayIndex](#literalarrayindex) structure. |
| `literalarray_idx_off` | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the literalarray index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [LiteralArrayIndex](#literalarrayindex) format. |
| `num_index_regions`    | `uint32_t`      | Number of the index regions in the file. Also this is the number of elements in the [RegionIndex](#regionindex) structure. |
| `index_section_off`    | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the index section. The offset must point to a structure in [RegionIndex](#indexheaderindex) format. |

Constraint: size of header must be > 16 bytes. [FieldType](#fieldType) uses this fact.

### RegionHeader

To address file structures using 16-bit indexes file is split into regions. Each region has class, method, field and proto indexes and described by `RegionHeader` structure.

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name              | Format     | Description |
| ----              | ------     | ----------- |
| `start_off`       | `uint32_t` | Start offset of the region. |
| `end_off`         | `uint32_t` | End offset of the region. |
| `class_idx_size`  | `uint32_t` | Number of elements in the [ClassRegionIndex](#classregionindex) structure. Max value is 65536. |
| `class_idx_off`   | `uint32_t` | Offset to the class index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [ClassRegionIndex](#classregionindex) format. |
| `method_idx_size` | `uint32_t` | Number of elements in the [MethodRegionIndex](#methodregionindex) structure. Max value is 65536. |
| `method_idx_off`  | `uint32_t` | Offset to the method index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [MethodRegionIndex](#methodregionindex) format. |
| `field_idx_size`  | `uint32_t` | Number of elements in the [FieldRegionIndex](#fieldregionindex) structure. Max value is 65536. |
| `field_idx_off`   | `uint32_t` | Offset to the field index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [FieldRegionIndex](#fieldregionindex) format. |
| `proto_idx_size`  | `uint32_t` | Number of elements in the [ProtoRegionIndex](#protoregionindex) structure. Max value is 65536. |
| `proto_idx_off`   | `uint32_t` | Offset to the proto index structure. The offset must point to a structure in [ProtoRegionIndex](#protoregionindex) format. |

Constraint: regions must not overlap each other.

### RegionIndex

`RegionIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find index structure that covers specified offset in the file.
It is organized as an array of [RegionHeader](#regionheader) structures.
All regions are sorted by the start offset of the region. Number of elements in the index is `num_index_regions`
from [Header](#header).

Alignment: 4 bytes

### ForeignField

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `class_idx`        | `uint16_t`      | Index of the declaring class in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Class](#class) or a [ForeignClass](#foreignclass). |
| `type_idx`         | `uint16_t`      | Index of the field's type in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be in [FieldType](#fieldtype) format. |
| `name_off`         | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the name of the field. The offset must point to a [String](#string) |

Note: Proper region index to resolve `class_idx` and `type_idx` can be found by foreign field's offset.

### Field

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `class_idx`        | `uint16_t`      | Index of the declaring class in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Class](#class). |
| `type_idx`         | `uint16_t`      | Index of the field's type in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be in [FieldType](#fieldtype) format. |
| `name_off`         | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the name of the field. The offset must point to a [String](#string) |
| `access_flags`     | `uleb128`       | Access flags of the field. The value must be a combination of the [Field access flags](#field-access-flags). |
| `field_data`       | `TaggedValue[]` | Variable length list of tagged values. Each element must have type [TaggedValue](#taggedvalue). Tag must have values from [FieldTag](#fieldtag) and follow in order of increasing tag (except `0x00` tag). |

Note: Proper region index to resolve `class_idx` and `type_idx` can be found by field's offset.

### FieldTag

| Name                      | Tag    | Quantity | Data format  | Description |
| ----                      | :-:    | :------: | -----------  | ----------- |
| `NOTHING`                 | `0x00` | `1`      | `none`       | No more values. The value with this tag must be the last. |
| `INT_VALUE`               | `0x01` | `0-1`    | `sleb128`    | Integral value of the field. This tag is used when the field has type `boolean`, `byte`, `char`, `short` or `int`. |
| `VALUE`                   | `0x02` | `0-1`    | `uint8_t[4]` | Contains value in the [Value](#value) format. |
| `RUNTIME_ANNOTATIONS`     | `0x03` | `>=0`    | `uint8_t[4]` | Offset to runtime **visible** annotation of the field. The tag may be repeated in case the field has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `ANNOTATIONS`             | `0x04` | `>=0`    | `uint8_t[4]` | Offset to runtime **invisible** annotation of the field. The tag may be repeated in case the field has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `RUNTIME_TYPE_ANNOTATION` | `0x05` | `>=0`    | `uint8_t[4]` | Offset to runtime **visible** type annotation of the field. The tag may be repeated in case the field has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `TYPE_ANNOTATION`         | `0x06` | `>=0`    | `uint8_t[4]` | Offset to runtime **invisible** type annotation of the field. The tag may be repeated in case the field has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |

Note: Only `INT_VALUE` or `VALUE` tags must be present.

### FieldType

Since the first bytes of the file contain the header and size of the header > 16 bytes, any offset in the range `[0; sizeof(Header))` is invalid.
`FieldType` encoding uses this fact to encode primitive types of the field in the low 4 bits.
For non-primitive type the value is an offset to [Class](#class) or to
[ForeignClass](#foreignclass). In both cases [FieldType](#fieldtype) is `uint32_t`.

Primitive types are encoded as follows:

| Type  | Code |
| ----  | :--: |
| `u1`  | 0x00 |
| `i8`  | 0x01 |
| `u8`  | 0x02 |
| `i16` | 0x03 |
| `u16` | 0x04 |
| `i32` | 0x05 |
| `u32` | 0x06 |
| `f32` | 0x07 |
| `f64` | 0x08 |
| `i64` | 0x09 |
| `u64` | 0x0a |
| `any` | 0x0b |

### ForeignMethod

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `class_idx`        | `uint16_t`      | Index of the declaring class in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Class](#class) or a [ForeignClass](#foreignclass). |
| `proto_idx`        | `uint16_t`      | Index of the method's prototype in a [`ProtoRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Proto](#proto). |
| `name_off`         | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the name of the method. The offset must point to a [String](#string). |
| `access_flags`     | `uleb128`       | Access flags of the method. The value must be a combination of [Method access flags](#method-access-flags). For foreign methods, only `ACC_STATIC` flag is used, other flags should be ignored. |

Note: Proper region index to resolve `class_idx` and `proto_idx` can be found by foreign method's offset.

### Method

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `class_idx`        | `uint16_t`      | Index of the declaring class in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Class](#class). |
| `proto_idx`        | `uint16_t`      | Index of the method's prototype in a [`ProtoRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Proto](#proto). |
| `name_off`         | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the name of the method. The offset must point to a [String](#string). |
| `access_flags`     | `uleb128`       | Access flags of the method. The value must be a combination of [Method access flags](#method-access-flags). |
| `method_data`      | `TaggedValue[]` | Variable length list of tagged values. Each element must have type [TaggedValue](#taggedvalue). Tag must have values from [MethodTag](#methodtag) and follow in order of increasing tag (except `0x00` tag). |

Note: Proper region index to resolve `class_idx` and `proto_idx` can be found by method's offset.

### MethodTag

| Name                       | Tag     | Quantity  | Data format      | Description |
| ----                       | :-:     | :------:  | -----------      | ----------- |
| `NOTHING`                  | `0x00`  | `1`       | `none`           | No more values. The value with this tag must be the last. |
| `CODE`                     | `0x01`  | `0-1`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to method's code. The offset must point to [Code](#code). |
| `SOURCE_LANG`              | `0x02`  | `0-1`     | `uint8_t`        | Data represents the [source language](#source-language). |
| `RUNTIME_ANNOTATION`       | `0x03`  | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to runtime **visible** annotation of the method. The tag may be repeated in case the method has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `RUNTIME_PARAM_ANNOTATION` | `0x04`  | `0-1`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to the runtime **visible** annotations of the method's parameters. The offset must point to the value in [ParamAnnotations](#paramannotations) format. |
| `DEBUG_INFO`               | `0x05`  | `0-1`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to debug information related to the method. The offset must point to [DebugInfo](#debuginfo). |
| `ANNOTATION`               | `0x06`  | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to runtime **invisible** annotation of the method. The tag may be repeated in case the method has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `PARAM_ANNOTATION`         | `0x07`  | `0-1`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to the runtime **invisible** annotations of the method's parameters. The offset must point to the value in [ParamAnnotations](#paramannotations) format. |
| `TYPE_ANNOTATION`          | `0x08`  | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to runtime **invisible** type annotation of the method. The tag may be repeated in case the method has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `RUNTIME_TYPE_ANNOTATION`  | `0x09`  | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`     | Data represents the offset to runtime **visible** type annotation of the method. The tag may be repeated in case the method has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |

### ForeignClass

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `name`             | `String`        | Name of the foreign type. The name must conform to [TypeDescriptor](#typedescriptor) syntax. |

### Class

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `name`             | `String`        | Name of the class. The name must conform to [TypeDescriptor](#typedescriptor) syntax. |
| `super_class_off`  | `uint8_t[4]`    | Offset to the name of the super class or `0` for root object class (`panda.Object` in Panda Assembly, plugin-specific in plugins). Non-zero offset must point to a [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) or to a [Class](#class). |
| `access_flags`     | `uleb128`       | Access flags of the class. The value must be a combination of [Class access flags](#class-access-flags). |
| `num_fields`       | `uleb128`       | Number of fields the class has.
| `num_methods`      | `uleb128`       | Number of methods the class has.
| `class_data`       | `TaggedValue[]` | Variable length list of tagged values. Each element must have type [TaggedValue](#taggedvalue). Tag must have values from [ClassTag](#classtag) and follow in order of increasing tag (except `0x00` tag). |
| `fields`           | `Field[]`       | Class fields. Number of elements is `num_fields`. Each element must have [Field](#field) format. |
| `methods`          | `Method[]`      | Class methods. Number of elements is `num_methods`. Each element must have [Method](#method) format. |

#### ClassTag

| Name                      | Tag    | Quantity  | Data format           | Description |
| ----                      | :-:    | :------:  | -----------           | ----------- |
| `NOTHING`                 | `0x00` | `1`       | `none`                | No more values. The value with this tag must be the last. |
| `INTERFACES`              | `0x01` | `0-1`     | `uleb128 uint8_t[]`   | List of interfaces the class implements. Data contains number of interfaces encoded in `uleb128` format followed by indexes of the interfaces in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Each index is 2 bytes long and must be resolved to offset point to a [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) or to a [Class](#class). Number of indexes is equal to number of interfaces. |
| `SOURCE_LANG`             | `0x02` | `0-1`     | `uint8_t`             | Data represents the [source language](#source-language). |
| `RUNTIME_ANNOTATION`      | `0x03` | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`          | Offset to runtime **visible** annotation of the class. The tag may be repeated in case the class has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `ANNOTATION`              | `0x04` | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`          | Offset to runtime **invisible** annotation of the class. The tag may be repeated in case the class has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `RUNTIME_TYPE_ANNOTATION` | `0x05` | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`          | Offset to runtime **visible** type annotation of the class. The tag may be repeated in case the class has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `TYPE_ANNOTATION`         | `0x06` | `>=0`     | `uint8_t[4]`          | Offset to runtime **invisible** type annotation of the class. The tag may be repeated in case the class has several annotations. The offset must point to the value in [Annotation](#annotation) format. |
| `SOURCE_FILE`             | `0x07` | `0-1`     | `uint8_t[4]`          | Offset to a file name string containing source code of this class. |

Note: Proper region index to resolve interfaces indexes can be found by class's offset.

### LiteralArray

Alignment: none

| Name               | Format        | Description |
| ----               | ------        | ----------- |
| `num_literals`     | `uint32_t`    | num of literals that a literalarray has. |
| `literals`         | `literal[]`   | Array of `literal` in one LiteralArray. The array has `num_literals` elements in [Literal](#literal) format. |

### Proto

Alignment: 2 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format        | Description |
| ----               | ------        | ----------- |
| `shorty`           | `uint16_t[]`  | Short representation of the prototype. Encoding of the shorty is described in [Shorty](#shorty). |
| `reference_types`  | `uint16_t[]`  | Array of indexes of the method's signature non-primitive types. For each non-primitive type in the shorty there is the corresponding element in the array. Size of the array is equals to number of reference types in the shorty. |

Note: Proper region index to resolve reference types indexes can be found by proto's offset.

#### Shorty

Shorty is a short description of method's signature without detailed information about reference types.
A shorty begins with a return type followed by method arguments and ends with `0x0`.

Shorty syntax:

```
Shorty -> ReturnType ParamTypeList End
ReturnType -> Type
ParamTypeList -> '' | Type ParamTypeList
Type -> <encoded type>
End -> 0x0
```

`<encoded type>` must be one of:

| Type   | Value   |
| ----   | :---:   |
| `void` | `0x01`  |
| `u1`   | `0x02`  |
| `i8`   | `0x03`  |
| `u8`   | `0x04`  |
| `i16`  | `0x05`  |
| `u16`  | `0x06`  |
| `i32`  | `0x07`  |
| `u32`  | `0x08`  |
| `f32`  | `0x09`  |
| `f64`  | `0x0a`  |
| `i64`  | `0x0b`  |
| `u64`  | `0x0c`  |
| `ref`  | `0x0d`  |
| `any`  | `0x0e`  |

All shorty elements are divided into groups of 4 elements starting from the beginning.
Each group is encoded in `uint16_t`. Each element is encoded in 4 bits.
A group with 4 elements `v1`, `v2`, ..., `v4` is encoded in `uint16_t` as follow:

```
| bits   | 0 - 3 | 4 - 7 | 8 - 11 | 12 - 15 |
| ------ | ----- | ----- | ------ | ------- |
| values | v1    | v2    | v3     | v4      |
```

If the group contains less then 4 elements the rest bits are filled with `0x0`.

### Code

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format        | Description |
| ----               | ------        | ----------- |
| `num_vregs`        | `uleb128`     | Number of registers (without argument registers). |
| `num_args`         | `uleb128`     | Number of arguments. |
| `code_size`        | `uleb128`     | Size of instructions in bytes. |
| `tries_size`       | `uleb128`     | Number of try blocks. |
| `instructions`     | `uint8_t[]`   | Instructions. |
| `try_blocks`       | `TryBlock[]`  | Array of try blocks. The array has `tries_size` elements in [TryBlock](#tryblock) format. |

### TryBlock

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format         | Description |
| ----               | ------         | ----------- |
| `start_pc`         | `uleb128`      | Start `pc` of the `try` block. This `pc` points to the first instruction covered by this try block. |
| `length`           | `uleb128`      | Number of instructions covered by the `try` block. |
| `num_catches`      | `uleb128`      | Number of catch blocks associated with the `try` block. |
| `catch_blocks`     | `CatchBlock[]` | Array of `catch` blocks associated with the `try` block. The array has `num_catches` elements in [CatchBlock](#catchblock) format. Catch blocks follows in the order runtime must check the exception's type. The `catch all` block, if present, must be the last. |

### CatchBlock

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format        | Description |
| ----               | ------        | ----------- |
| `type_idx`         | `uleb128`     | Index + 1 of the exception's type the block handles in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure or 0 in case of `catch all` block. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) or to [Class](#class). The case when the index is 0 means it is a `catch all` block which catches all exceptions. |
| `handler_pc`       | `uleb128`     | `pc` of the first instruction of the exception handler. |
| `code_size`        | `uleb128`     | Handler's code size in bytes |

Note: Proper region index to resolve `type_idx` can be found by corresponding method's offset.

### Annotation

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format                | Description |
| ----               | ------                | ----------- |
| `class_idx`        | `uint16_t`            | Index of the declaring class in a [`ClassRegionIndex`](#classregionindex) structure. Corresponding index entry must be an offset to a [Class](#class) or a [ForeignClass](#foreignclass). |
| `count`            | `uint16_t`            | Number of name-value pairs in the annotation (number of elements in `elements` array). |
| `elements`         | `AnnotationElement[]` | Array of annotation elements. Each element is in [AnnotationElement](#annotationelement) format. Order of elements must be the same as they follow in the annotation class. |
| `element_types`    | `uint8_t[]`           | Array of annotation element's types. Each element in the array describes the type of `AnnotationElement`. The order of elements in the array matches the order of `elements` field. |

Note: Proper region index to resolve `class_idx` can be found by annotation's offset.

### Tags description

|        Type       | Tag |
| ------------------| --- |
| `u1`              | `1` |
| `i8`              | `2` |
| `u8`              | `3` |
| `i16`             | `4` |
| `u16`             | `5` |
| `i32`             | `6` |
| `u32`             | `7` |
| `i64`             | `8` |
| `u64`             | `9` |
| `f32`             | `A` |
| `f64`             | `B` |
| `string`          | `C` |
| `record`          | `D` |
| `method`          | `E` |
| `enum`            | `F` |
| `annotation`      | `G` |
| `method_handle`   | `J` |
| `array`           | `H` |
| `u1[]`            | `K` |
| `i8[]`            | `L` |
| `u8[]`            | `M` |
| `i16[]`           | `N` |
| `u16[]`           | `O` |
| `i32[]`           | `P` |
| `u32[]`           | `Q` |
| `i64[]`           | `R` |
| `u64[]`           | `S` |
| `f32[]`           | `T` |
| `f64[]`           | `U` |
| `string[]`        | `V` |
| `record[]`        | `W` |
| `method[]`        | `X` |
| `enum[]`          | `Y` |
| `annotation[]`    | `Z` |
| `method_handle[]` | `@` |
| `nullptr string`  | `*` |

The correct value for element with `nullptr string` tag is 0 (`\x00\x00\x00\x00`)

### AnnotationElement

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `name_off`         | `uint32_t`      | Offset to the element's name. The offset must point to a [String](#string). |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | Value of the element. If the annotation element has type boolean, byte, short, char, int or float the field *value* contains the value itself in the corresponding [Value](#value) format. Else the field contains offset to a [Value](#value). Format of the value could be determined based on element's type. |


### ParamAnnotations

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format                | Description |
| ----               | ------                | ----------- |
| `count`            | `uint32_t`            | Number of parameters the method has. This number includes synthetic and mandated parameters. |
| `annotations`      | `AnnotationArray[]`  | Array of annotation lists for each parameter. The array has `count` elements and each element is in [AnnotationArray](#annotationarray) format. |

### AnnotationArray

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `count`            | `uint32_t`      | Number of elements in the array. |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`    | Array of offsets to the parameter annotations. Each offset must refers to an [Annotation](#annotation). The array has `count` elements. |

### Value

There are different value encodings depending on the value's type.

#### ByteValue

Alignment: None

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t`    | Signed 1-byte integer value. |

#### ShortValue

Alignment: 2 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[2]`    | Signed 2-byte integer value. |

#### IntegerValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[4]`    | Signed 4-byte integer value. |

#### LongValue

Alignment: 8 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[8]`    | Signed 8-byte integer value. |

#### FloatValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[4]`    | 4-byte bit pattern, zero-extended to the right, and interpreted as an IEEE754 32-bit floating point value. |

#### DoubleValue

Alignment: 8 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[8]`    | 8-byte bit pattern, zero-extended to the right, and interpreted as an IEEE754 64-bit floating point value. |

#### StringValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to [String](#string). |

#### EnumValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to an enum's field. The offset must point to [Field](#field) or [ForeignField](#foreignfield). |

#### ClassValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to [Class](#class) or [ForeignClass](#foreignclass). |

#### AnnotationValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to [Annotation](#annotation). |

#### MethodValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod). |      

#### MethodHandleValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to [MethodHandle](#methodhandle). |

#### MethodTypeValue

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint32_t`      | The value represents an offset to [Proto](#proto). |

#### ArrayValue

Alignment: None

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `count`            | `uleb128`       | Number of elements in the array. |
| `elements`         | `Value[]`       | Unaligned array of [Value](#value) items. The array has `count` elements. |

### Literal

There are different literal encodings depending on the num of value's bytes.

#### ByteOne

Alignment: None

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t`       | 1-byte value. |

#### ByteTwo

Alignment: 2 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[2]`    | 2-byte value. |

#### ByteFour

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[4]`    | 4-byte value. |

#### ByteEight

Alignment: 8 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `value`            | `uint8_t[8]`    | 8-byte value. |

### ClassIndex

`ClassIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find a type definition by name quickly.
The structure is organized as an array of offsets from the beginning of the file to the
[Class](#class) or [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) structures. All the offsets are sorted by corresponding class names.
Number of elements in the index is `num_classes` from [Header](#header).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`    | Sorted array of offsets to [Class](#class) or [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) structures. The array must be sorted by class names. |

### LineNumberProgramIndex

`LineNumberProgramIndex` structure is aimed to allow use more compact references to [Line Number Program](#line-number-program).
The structure is organized as an array of offsets from the beginning of the file to the [Line Number Program](#line-number-program)
structures. Number of elements in the index is `num_lnps` from [Header](#header).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`    | Array of offsets to [Line Number Program](#line-number-program) structures. |

### ClassRegionIndex

`ClassRegionIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find a type definition by index.
The structure is organized as an array of [FieldType](#fieldtype). Number of elements in the index is `class_idx_size` from [RegionHeader](#regionheader).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format             | Description |
| ----               | ------             | ----------- |
| `types`            | `FieldType[]`      | Array of [FieldType](#fieldtype) structures. |

### MethodRegionIndex

`MethodRegionIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find a method definition by index.
The structure is organized as an array of offsets from the beginning og the file to the [Method](#method) or the [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod) structure.
Number of elements in the index is `method_idx_size` from [RegionHeader](#regionheader).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format             | Description |
| ----               | ------             | ----------- |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`       | Array of offsets to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod) structures. |

### FieldRegionIndex

`FieldRegionIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find a field definition by index.
The structure is organized as an array of offsets from the beginning og the file to the [Field](#field) or the [ForeignField](#foreignfield) structure.
Number of elements in the index is `field_idx_size` from [RegionHeader](#regionheader).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format             | Description |
| ----               | ------             | ----------- |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`       | Array of offsets to [Field](#field) or [ForeignField](#foreignfield) structures. |

### ProtoRegionIndex

`ProtoRegionIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find a proto definition by index.
The structure is organized as an array of offsets from the beginning og the file to the [Proto](#proto) structure.
Number of elements in the index is `proto_idx_size` from [RegionHeader](#regionheader).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format             | Description |
| ----               | ------             | ----------- |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`       | Array of offsets to [Proto](#proto) structures. |

### LiteralArrayIndex

`LiteralArrayIndex` structure is aimed to allow runtime to find a LiteralArray definition by index.
The structure is organized as an array of offsets from the beginning of the file to the [LiteralArray](#literalarray) structures.
Number of elements in the index is `num_literalarrays` from [Header](#header).

Alignment: 4 bytes

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `offsets`          | `uint32_t[]`    | Sorted array of offsets to [LiteralArray](#literalarray) structures. |

### DebugInfo

Debug information contains mapping between program counter of a method and line numbers in source
code and information about local variables. The format is derived from DWARF Debugging Information
Format, Version 3 (see item 6.2). The mapping and local variable information are encoded in
[line number program](#line-number-program) which is interpreted by
[the state machine](#state-machine). To deduplicate the same line number programs of different
methods all constants the program refers to are moved into [the constant pool](#constant-pool).

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name                      | Format          | Description |
| ----                      | ------          | ----------- |
| `line_start`              | `uleb128`       | The initial value of line register of [the state machine](#state-machine). |
| `num_parameters`          | `uleb128`       | Number of method parameters. |
| `parameters`              | `uleb128[]`     | Parameters names of the method. The array has `num_parameters` elements. Each element is an offset to [String](#string) or 0 if there is no name. |
| `constant_pool_size`      | `uleb128`       | Size of constant pool in bytes. |
| `constant_pool`           | `uleb128[]`     | [Constant pool](#constant-pool) data of length `constant_pool_size` bytes. |
| `line_number_program_idx` | `uleb128`       | [Line number program](#line-number-program) index in a [`LineNumberProgramIndex`](#linenumberprogramindex) structure. The program has variable length and ends with `DBG_END_SEQUENCE` opcode. |

#### Constant pool

Many methods has similar line number program. The difference is only in variable names,
variable types and file names. To deduplicate such programs all constants the program refers to
are stored in the constant pool. During interpretation of the program
[the state machine](#state-machine) tracks a pointer to the constant pool.
When [the state machine](#state-machine) interprets an instruction which requires a constant
argument the machine reads the value from memory constant pool pointer points to and then increments
the pointer. Thus programs has no explicit references to constants and could be deduplicated.

#### State Machine

The aim of the state machine is to generate a mapping between program counter and line numbers and
local variable information. The machine has the following registers:

| Name                 | Initial value | Description       |
| ----                 | ------------- | ----------------- |
| `address`            | 0             | Program counter (refers to method's instructions). Must only monotonically increase. |
| `line`               | `line_start` from [DebugInfo](#debug_info). | Unsigned integer which corresponds to line number in source code. All lines are numbered beginning at 1 so the register mustn't have value less then 1. |
| `file`               | Value of `SOURCE_FILE` tag in `class_data` (see [Class](#class)) or 0 | Offset to the name of source file. If there is no such information (`SOURCE_FILE` tag is absent in [Class](#class)) then the register has value 0. |
| `prologue_end`       | `false`       | The register indicates the current address is one where entry breakpoint of the method could be set. |
| `epilogue_begin`     | `false`       | The register indicates the current address is one where exit breakpoint of the method could be set. |
| `constant_pool_ptr`  | Address of the `constant_pool`'s first byte from [DebugInfo](#debug_info). | Pointer to the current constant value. |

#### Line Number Program

A line number program consists of instructions. Each instruction has one byte opcode and optional arguments. Depending on opcode argument's value may be encoded into the instruction or the instruction requires reading the value from constant pool.

| Opcode                 | Value        | Instruction Format | Constant pool arguments   | Description                           |
| ------                 | -----        | ------------------ | -----------------------   | -----------                           |
| `END_SEQUENCE`         | `0x00`       |                    |                           | Marks the end of line number program. |
| `ADVANCE_PC`           | `0x01`       |                    | `uleb128`                 | Increment `address` register by the value `constant_pool_ptr` refers to without emitting a line. |
| `ADVANCE_LINE`         | `0x02`       |                    | `sleb128`                 | Increment `line` register by the value `constant_pool_ptr` refers to without emitting a line. |
| `START_LOCAL`          | `0x03`       | `sleb128`          | `uleb128 uleb128`         | Introduce a local variable with name and type the `constant_pool_ptr` refers to at the current address. The number of the register contains the variable is encoded in the instruction. The register's value `-1` means the accumulator register. The name is an offset to [String](#String) and the type is an offset to [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) or [Class](#class). The offsets may be `0` which means the corresponding information is absent. |
| `START_LOCAL_EXTENDED` | `0x04`       | `sleb128`          | `uleb128 uleb128 uleb128` | Introduce a local variable with name, type and type signature the *constant_pool_ptr* refers to at the current address. The number of the register contains the variable is encoded in the instruction. The register's value `-1` means the accumulator register. The name is an offset to [String](#String), the type is an offset to [ForeignClass](#foreignclass) or [Class](#class) and the signature is an offset to TODO: figure out what are signatures. The offsets may be `0` which means the corresponding information is absent. |
| `END_LOCAL`            | `0x05`       | `sleb128`          |                           | Mark the local variable in the specified register is out of scope. The register number is encoded in the instruction. The register's value `-1` means the accumulator register. |
| `RESTART_LOCAL`        | `0x06`       | `sleb128`          |                           | Re-introduces a local variable at the specified register. The name and type are the same as the last local that was in the register. The register number is encoded in the instruction. The register's value `-1` means the accumulator register. |
| `SET_PROLOGUE_END`     | `0x07`       |                    |                           | Set `prologue_end` register to `true`. Any special opcodes clear `prologue_end` register. |
| `SET_EPILOGUE_BEGIN`   | `0x08`       |                    |                           | Set `epilogue_end` register to `true`. Any special opcodes clear `epilogue_end` register. |
| `SET_FILE`             | `0x09`       |                    | `uleb128`                 | Set `file` register to the value `constant_pool_ptr` refers to. The argument is an offset to [String](#string) which represents the file name or `0`. |
| `SET_SOURCE_CODE`      | `0x0a`       |                    | `uleb128`                 | Set `source_code` register to the value `constant_pool_ptr` refers to. The argument is an offset to [String](#string) which represents the source code or `0`. |
| SET_COLUMN | `0x0b` | | `uleb128` | Set `column` register by the value `constant_pool_ptr` refers to |
| Special opcodes        | `0x0c..0xff` |                    |                           | |

Special opcodes:

[The state machine](#state-machine) interprets each special opcode as follow
(see DWARF Debugging Information Format item 6.2.5.1 Special Opcodes):

1. Calculate the adjusted opcode: `adjusted_opcode = opcode - OPCODE_BASE`.
2. Increment `address` register: `address += adjusted_opcode / LINE_RANGE`.
3. Increment `line` register: `line += LINE_BASE + (adjusted_opcode % LINE_RANGE)`.
4. Emit line number.
5. Set `prologue_end` register to `false`.
6. Set `epilogue_begin` register to `false`.

Where:

* `OPCODE_BASE = 0x0c`: the first special opcode.
* `LINE_BASE = -4`: the smallest line number increment.
* `LINE_RANGE = 15`: the number of line increments presented.

### MethodHandle

Alignment: none

Format:

| Name               | Format          | Description |
| ----               | ------          | ----------- |
| `type`             | `uint8_t`       | Type of the handle. Must be one of [MethodHandle's type](#types_of_methodhandle). |
| `offset`           | `uleb128`       | Offset to the entity of the corresponding type. Type of the entity is determined depending on handle's type (see [Types of MethodHandle](#types_of_methodhandle)). |

#### Types of MethodHandle

The available types of a method handle are:

| Name                 | Code              | Description |
| ----                 | :--:              | ----------- |
| `PUT_STATIC`         | `0x00`            | Method handle refers to a static setter. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Field](#field) or [ForeignField](#foreignfield). |
| `GET_STATIC`         | `0x01`            | Method handle refers to a static getter. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Field](#field) or [ForeignField](#foreignfield). |
| `PUT_INSTANCE`       | `0x02`            | Method handle refers to an instance getter. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Field](#field) or [ForeignField](#foreignfield). |
| `GET_INSTANCE`       | `0x03`            | Method handle refers to an instance setter. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Field](#field) or [ForeignField](#foreignfield). |
| `INVOKE_STATIC`      | `0x04`            | Method handle refers to a static method. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod). |
| `INVOKE_INSTANCE`    | `0x05`            | Method handle refers to an instance method. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod). |
| `INVOKE_CONSTRUCTOR` | `0x06`            | Method handle refers to a constructor. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod). |
| `INVOKE_DIRECT`      | `0x07`            | Method handle refers to a direct method. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod). |
| `INVOKE_INTERFACE`   | `0x08`            | Method handle refers to an interface method. Offset in [MethodHandle](#methodhandle) must point to [Method](#method) or [ForeignMethod](#foreignmethod). |

#### Argument Types

A bootstrap method can accept static arguments of the following types:

| Type               | Code            | Description |
| -----              | :--:            | ----------- |
| `Integer`          | `0x00`          | The corresponding argument has [IntegerValue](#integervalue) encoding. |
| `Long`             | `0x01`          | The corresponding argument has [LongValue](#longvalue) encoding. |
| `Float`            | `0x02`          | The corresponding argument has [FloatValue](#floatvalue) encoding. |
| `Double`           | `0x03`          | The corresponding argument has [DoubleValue](#doublevalue) encoding. |
| `String`           | `0x04`          | The corresponding argument has [StringValue](#stringvalue) encoding. |
| `Class`            | `0x05`          | The corresponding argument has [ClassValue](#classvalue) encoding. |
| `MethodHandle`     | `0x06`          | The corresponding argument has [MethodHandleValue](#methodhandlevalue) encoding. |
| `MethodType`       | `0x07`          | The corresponding argument has [MethodTypeValue](#methodtypevalue) encoding. |