Shard Programming Language

Easy as Ruby. Simple as Lua. Beautiful as Crystal. Powerful as Zig. Smart as Python.

Author

MelvinSGjr (GitHub: MelvinMod)

Warning

Shard is a toy / concept language that I built for myself. It exists because I kept running into problems with other languages that I otherwise really like:

• Zig & D – Both are solid low‑level languages, but I constantly felt the urge to jump ship. Zig’s lack of encapsulation and D’s garbage‑collection baggage just never felt right for the kind of code I wanted to write.

• Ruby – Ruby’s syntax is a joy, but it’s not a systems language. When I need to be close to the metal, Ruby isn’t an option.

• Crystal – Crystal was almost perfect. It looks like Ruby, compiles to native code, and gives you low‑level control. But the reality hit hard: the ecosystem is tiny, many libraries are abandoned or missing, and compile times can be excruciatingly slow for anything bigger than a script. It never reached the critical mass that would have made it practical for my daily work.

• Rust – I tried Rust, but the library system felt weird and chaotic (like it got “drunk” somewhere along the way), and the language itself is hard to grasp when you’re thinking about logic rather than just fighting the borrow checker.

So I ended up creating Shard: a language that is extremely simple and gives me exactly the low‑level feel I want – without the ecosystem nightmares or the mental overhead.

Use Shard sparingly. It’s honestly shitcoded (please fork it and make something better!), and I wouldn’t recommend it for serious daily tasks. This is my personal playground, and you’re welcome to play in it too – just don’t expect a polished product.

Quick Start

Install

git clone https://github.com/MelvinMod/Shard.git
cd Shard
cargo build --release
export PATH="$PWD/target/release:$PATH"

Hello World

fn main
  say "Hello, World!"
~

Run:

shard run hello.shard

Two Backends

Native Backend

• Compiles to C
• Fast executables
• No dependencies

shard compile program.shard -o program --backend native

Rust FFI Backend (Rust Support)

• Compiles to Rust
• Use Rust libraries
• Type safety

shard compile program.shard -o program --backend rust

AI & Machine Learning

ONNX Support

use ai

let session = OnnxSession.new("model.onnx")
let output = session.predict(input)

LLM Support

use ai

let llm = LLM.new("llama-2.gguf")
let response = llm.generate("What is AI?", 200)

Computer Vision

use ai

let cv = ComputerVision.new("yolov8.onnx")
let objects = cv.detect_objects("photo.jpg")

Neural Networks

use ai

let nn = NeuralNetwork.new()
  .add_layer(Dense(784, 128))
  .add_layer(Dense(128, 10))

nn.compile(optimizer="adam", loss="cross_entropy")
nn.train(dataset, epochs=50)

Library Loading

use lib_loader

let loader = LibraryLoader.new("/usr/lib/libm.so")
loader.load()

What You Can Build

• AI Models - LLMs, computer vision, neural networks
• Games - 2D/3D games, game engines
• Web Apps - Servers, APIs, full-stack
• Systems - OS, drivers, embedded
• Scripts - Automation, data processing

Documentation

Getting Started

• GETTING_STARTED.md - Complete beginner guide
• QUICK_REFERENCE.md - Syntax quick reference
• SYNTAX_GUIDE.md - Complete syntax reference

Learning

• BEGINNER_01.md to 06.md - Step-by-step lessons
• PROJECT_01.md to 03.md - Real projects

Advanced

• AI_GUIDE.md - AI & ML complete guide
• LIBRARY_GUIDE.md - Library loading guide
• FEATURES.md - Feature overview

Examples

• examples - Working programs

Examples Directory

• 01_hello.shard - Hello World
• 02_calculator.shard - Math operations
• 03_loops.shard - Loop examples
• 04_conditionals.shard - If/else/match
• 05_functions.shard - Functions
• 06_entities.shard - Objects
• 07_simple_ai.shard - AI examples
• 08_data_structures.shard - Collections

Commands

shard run program.shard      # Run
shard compile file.shard -o program  # Compile
shard check program.shard    # Check syntax
shard version                # Show version

File Extension

Use .shard for source files.

License

MIT License

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Author: MelvinSGjr (MelvinMod)
Version: 0.1.0
Goal: Make programming available to me and perhaps everyone