Knitlang V2 🧶

Knitlang is a tiny, playful programming language inspired by knitting terms and patterns. This repository (Knitlang v2) contains a minimal Rust implementation of a lexer, parser, and interpreter that demonstrates the language's core ideas and provides a REPL and file runner.

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✨ Features

• Knitting-themed keywords: cast_on, knit, purl, bind_off, repeat.
• Integer arithmetic expressions (+, -, *, /).
• Simple variable environment.
• REPL for interactive experimentation and file-based execution.

🚀 Quick start

Requirements: Rust and Cargo (1.XX+)

1. Build and run the REPL:

cargo run

2. Run a Knitlang source file:

cargo run -- path/to/program.knit

3. Run the bundled example (from examples/):

cargo run -- --example hello

4. Start the REPL explicitly with a flag:

cargo run -- --repl

🧩 Example program

Save this as examples/hello.knit and run it with cargo run -- examples/hello.knit:

cast_on stitches = 0;
repeat 3 {
  knit stitches = stitches + 1;
  purl stitches;
}
bind_off;

Output:

1
2
3

🛠️ Language overview

• cast_on <name> = <expr>; — create/initialize a variable.
• knit <name> = <expr>; — assign/update a variable.
• purl <expr>; — evaluate an expression and print it (used here for demonstration).
• repeat <expr> { ... } — repeat a block a fixed number of times.
• bind_off; — stop execution early (used like break).

📚 Next steps / TODO

• Add more knitting primitives (yo, ssk, pattern macros).
• Support lists/rows for representing stitches and patterns.
• Add tests and CI, a standard library, and more example patterns.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Open issues for feature requests or bugs, and send PRs for improvements. Keep changes small and add tests where possible.