eternal-flame-ad/arithmetic-fizzbuzz — explained in plain English
Analysis updated 2026-07-17 · repo last pushed 2025-11-14
Explore how arithmetic can replace branches in a classic FizzBuzz program.
Study the compiled assembly to verify there are zero conditional jumps.
Use the Python truth-table version to understand the math behind branchless logic.
Enter a programming challenge that requires solving problems without control flow.
| eternal-flame-ad/arithmetic-fizzbuzz | francescobbo/nos | plummerssoftwarellc/tinyretropad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 1 | 1 | 53 |
| Language | Assembly | Assembly | Assembly |
| Last pushed | 2025-11-14 | 2016-08-11 | — |
| Maintenance | Quiet | Dormant | — |
| Setup difficulty | easy | hard | hard |
| Complexity | 2/5 | 5/5 | 4/5 |
| Audience | developer | developer | developer |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Requires Rust toolchain to compile the Rust version, Python version needs Python installed.
This project is a solution to a programming puzzle: can you write FizzBuzz without any if-statements, boolean logic, pattern matching, or anything that behaves like a yes/no test? The answer is yes, and the repository proves it with working code that prints the classic sequence, numbers from one upward, with multiples of three replaced by "Fizz," multiples of five by "Buzz," and multiples of both by "FizzBuzz." The trick is that instead of asking "is this number divisible by three?" and branching based on the answer, the code uses pure arithmetic to compute what should be printed directly. The README includes both a Python version built on truth tables and a Rust version that compiles down to straight-line assembly with zero branches. The author points to the compiled assembly to show there are no jumps, no comparisons, no conditional logic at all, just math operations that happen to produce the right output. This is a curiosity rather than a practical tool. Nobody needs a branchless FizzBuzz in production. The project exists to meet a challenge called "Future of Computing," which asks whether programs can be written without the control-flow primitives most software relies on. The README notes a similar effort using lambda calculus, but claims the arithmetic approach is the only one that runs without conditionals on actual hardware. One amusing tradeoff: because the program refuses to check for errors (that would require a conditional), it has no way to handle output failures gracefully. If you pipe the output somewhere that closes early, the program just crashes with a segmentation fault. The README treats this as expected behavior rather than a bug. It also benchmarks at around 153 million lines per second, which is fast, though speed is clearly not the point.
A proof-of-concept that solves FizzBuzz using only arithmetic, no if-statements, no branches, no conditionals at all. It exists to show that programs can be written without the control-flow tools most software depends on.
Mainly Assembly. The stack also includes Rust, Python, Assembly.
Quiet — no commits in 6-12 months (last push 2025-11-14).
Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.
Mainly developer.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
Verify against the repo before relying on details.