Draft:QOA Programming Language
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| QOA | |
|---|---|
| Paradigm | Quantum computing, Optical computing, Hybrid computing |
| Designed by | Ryan (planetryan) |
| Developer | Ryan (planetryan) |
| Stable release | 0.2.9
/ July 3, 2025 |
| Typing discipline | Static |
| License | GPL v3.0 |
| Filename extensions | .qoa, .qx, .qexe, .oexe, .qoexe |
| Website | GitHub – planetryan/qoa |
QOA (Quantum Optical Assembly) is a specialized low-level programming language for quantum, photonic, and hybrid computing environments. Developed in Rust and released under the GPL 3.0 license in mid 2025, QOA is maintained on GitHub and designed as a learing tool to help simulate, and prototype quantum‑optical algorithms and software. QOA allows for Quantum-native programs to be run on conventional CPUs, regardless of architecture type.
Overview
QOA unifies quantum and photonic operations within a single, RISC-inspired assembly framework. Its main components are:
Static typing: QOA enforces static type checking of operands (qubits, modes, classical registers) at compile time, ensuring strict domain correctness and preventing instruction mismatches.
Modular ISA: extensions for qubit gates, photonic transformations, and classical control, allowing flexible instruction sets tailored to different hardware backends.
Simulation engine: software-based emulation of quantum decoherence channels, optical noise, and hybrid logic flows, providing realistic performance estimates and noise characterization.
Audio-driven visualizer: transforms audio signals into sequences of quantum or optical operations and renders synchronized videos that highlight stochastic phenomena and coherent effects.
By abstracting both quantum and optical domains in one language, QOA streamlines the development of hybrid algorithms, supports advanced noise and error‑correction modeling, and enables rapid prototyping of emerging quantum‑optical architectures.
Key features
Hybrid quantum‑optical support: seamless integration of qubit and photon operations for next‑generation co‑processing.
Realistic noise modeling: built-in channels for amplitude damping, depolarization, thermal effects, Kerr nonlinearities, and cross‑phase modulation.
Control flow integration: classical subroutines, loops, and conditionals for complex algorithmic logic alongside quantum/optical instructions.
Extensible backends: plugin architecture for hardware APIs (e.g., IonQ, FPGA prototypes) and custom simulators.
Audio visualization: unique module mapping audio waveforms to assembly instructions, generating videos that visualize probabilistic behavior.
History
Since its first release (v0.1.0) in early 2025, QOA has evolved through community-driven contributions. Milestones include:
v0.1.x (Feb. 2025): Initial support for single and two-qubit gates, basic photon operations, and measurement primitives.
v0.2.0 (April 2025): Addition of structured control flow, subroutines, enhanced noise channels, and preliminary hardware API connectors.
v0.2.9 (July 3, 2025): Expanded hybrid logic constructs, advanced visualization effects, and improved error‑correction routines.
Quantum audio visualizer
The visualizer is a standout feature of QOA. It interprets audio files (e.g., WAV, MP3) as directives for quantum or photonic parameters, such as rotation angles or squeezing levels. Then executes repeated measurement sequences to produce frame‑by‑frame statistics. The result is a video that makes stochastic quantum and optical phenomena visually accessible, synchronized to sound.
Community and development
QOA is open‑source (GPL 3.0) and actively maintained on GitHub solely by Ryan. Contributors can engage via issues and pull requests, guided by a detailed changelog and roadmap. Planned enhancements include native ISA support for RISC-V, ARM, And improved SIMD implemntation for x86_64, and improved noise‑calibration tools.