Introduction to Compilation with VSAs.

What it is and how to do it.

This is a primer for the thinking and intuitions behind encoding and interpreting programming languages in Vector-Symbolic Architectures (VSAs), based on Tomkins-Flanagan, et al. (2024) and Hanley, et al. (2025).

We will begin with a short introduction to VSAs, as well as how we can represent syntax with them. Then, we will do a discussion over programming language semantics, and converting these functions to work over high-dimensional vectors. We will then provide two concrete examples: an implementation of an interpreter for a small subset of LISP, as well as an implementation for a FORTH interpreter.

References

Tomkins-Flanagan, E., & Kelly, M. A. (2024). Hey Pentti, We Did It!: A Fully Vector-Symbolic Lisp. International Conference on Cognitive Modeling.

Hanley, C., Tomkins-Flanagan, E., & Kelly, M. (2025). Hey Pentti, We Did (More of) It!: A Vector-Symbolic Lisp With Residue Arithmetic. International Joint Conference on Neural Networks.