KASL module system improvement

So far, KASL compiler didn’t allow us to import external programs with the same name, because the name of the namespace conflicts. Today I have added new alias feature, which can be used like this:

import foo as bar

With this syntax, you can import a program named foo.kasl and refer to it with bar.
This can also improve readability when importing a file with a long name!

Streamline compilation

I wanted to try compiling Kadent to application that can be installed using an installer, instead of a simple executable binary. I found Taskfile, which is a build tool similar to make but uses a yaml file to define workflows. I found it very useful so I adopted it and it worked very well! Currently I only have workflow for macOS compilation but I want to add Windows and Linux support soon!

Project creation dialog

I’ve implemented new project creation dialog. You can specify the name of the project and select the folder using a picker from the system.

Implemented splash screen

I’ve finally finished implementing the splash screen for Kadent. On the left side, there are two buttons for creating or opening a project. The right panel shows the recent projects.

Challenge

The biggest challenge in implementing the splash screen was to layout UI components. It was quite hard to center the logo and the buttons. I spent around 1hrs dealing with that problem.

Here’s how I solved it:

const BUTTON_WIDTH: f32 = 300.0;
const BUTTON_HEIGHT: f32 = 42.0;
const CONTENT_HEIGHT: f32 = 60.0 + 12.0 + 16.0 + 24.0 + 12.0 + BUTTON_HEIGHT * 2.0;

impl SplashUi {
    pub(super) fn splash_controls(&mut self, ui: &mut egui::Ui) -> Option<EditorTransition> {
        ui.vertical_centered(|ui| {
            // Add space to vertically center the UI parts
            ui.add_space(full_height / 2.0 - CONTENT_HEIGHT / 2.0);
            // UI Components
        })
        .inner
    }
}

Since centering both horizontally and vertically while calculating the height of the inner content is painful, I eventually hardcoded the height of the UI components in order to center the UI vertically.

Logo

I’ve also designed a logo for Kadent in the meantime. I tweaked the font called “Inter”, which is available on Google Fonts, for the logo.

Kadent — A DAW with custom language to create synths and effects

Refactored project strucure

As my codebase became bigger, it started to be a bit complicated, so I’ve refactored the codebase. New folder structure is consist of four directories in src/ directory: commands, core, storage, and ui.
commands directory contains the audio engine communication logic. It has some functions like add_note that adds a new note to the specified track and sends the updated project to the audio thread.
core directory contains KASLNode implementation and some metadata. KASLNode is a specific node that can literally execute KASL programs. Metadata is a data that are not necessarily tied to audio engine. It includes track colors, track names, region names, etc.
storage directory contains some implementation for storing and loading files. It has a logic to save and load the Kadent project file.
ui directory contains the UI implementation. Inside the ui directory, there are components, theme, and workspaces directories. components directory has some common UI parts used in various parts of the DAW. theme defines colors and size used in the UI. workspaces contains the UI implementation for the editor and the splash screen.

Splash screen

I’m currently implementing a splash screen for Kadent. It used to have just two buttons to create or open a project. I’ve just finished implementing “Recent Projects” list. (shown on the right side)

Implemented multithread track processing for the audio engine using Rayon!
I used to think implementing multithreading would be a nightmare, but I utilized Rayon which was actually very intuitive and easy to use.

The screenshot shows the exact code where the tracks are being processed in parallel.

I’ve finished editing a demo video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCJ3Ztfm0Tg

I’ve improved the README for this

Finished soldering the plugin power supplier!
It works perfectly when connected to microphone

FInally finished preparing the required resources!
https://github.com/hatya-mouse/hydropad

Implemented simple encoder and oled process to firmware

Finished designing the PCB and the case and finally started implementing the firmware!

Welcome to Stardance!

I am working on a WASM backend for my KASL language!