Minor additions/changes

src/backend/vm.nim

@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ when debugVM or debugMem or debugGC:
     import std/terminal
 
 
-{.push checks:on.}   # The VM is a critical point where checks are deleterious
+{.push checks:not disableVMChecks.}   # The VM is a critical point where checks are deleterious
 
 type
     PeonVM* = ref object
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ type
     HeapObject* = object
         ## A tagged box for a heap-allocated
         ## peon object
-        marked*: bool
+        marked*: bool          # Used in the GC phase
         case kind*: ObjectKind
             of String:
                 str*: ptr UncheckedArray[char]

src/config.nim

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ const debugStressGC* {.booldefine.} = false    # Make the GC run a collection at
 const PeonBytecodeMarker* = "PEON_BYTECODE"    # Magic value at the beginning of bytecode files
 const HeapGrowFactor* = 2                      # The growth factor used by the GC to schedule the next collection
 const FirstGC* = 1024 * 1024;                  # How many bytes to allocate before running the first GC
+const disableVMChecks* {.booldefine.} = true;  # Disables all types of compiler (nim-wise) checks in the VM
 when HeapGrowFactor <= 1:
     {.fatal: "Heap growth factor must be > 1".}
 const PeonVersion* = (major: 0, minor: 1, patch: 0)
@@ -35,8 +36,8 @@ const PeonCommitHash* = "058b021493577a45ff6418d8073008be401b5910"
 when len(PeonCommitHash) != 40:
     {.fatal: "The git commit hash must be exactly 40 characters long".}
 const PeonBranch* = "master"
-when len(PeonBranch) > 255:
-    {.fatal: "The git branch name's length must be less than or equal to 255 characters".}
+when len(PeonBranch) > 255 or len(PeonBranch) == 0:
+    {.fatal: "The git branch name's length must be within 1 and 255 characters".}
 const PeonVersionString* = &"Peon {PeonVersion.major}.{PeonVersion.minor}.{PeonVersion.patch} {PeonRelease} ({PeonBranch}, {CompileDate}, {CompileTime}, {PeonCommitHash[0..8]}) [Nim {NimVersion}] on {hostOS} ({hostCPU})"
 const HelpMessage* = """The peon programming language, Copyright (C) 2022 Mattia Giambirtone & All Contributors