Xanadu

A simple interpreted esoteric programming language with syntax based on Rush song lyrics and titles

Note

This is the first stable version of Xanadu. Performance improvements and more features will be added in the future

Table of Contents

• Language Overview
  • Comments
  • Declarations
  • Control Flow
  • Wirtting to the console
  • Classes
  • Inheritance
  • Operators
• Building Xanadu
• Tooling
• Examples

Language Overview

Xanadu is a dynamically typed object oriented language with automatic memory management in the form of a garbage collector. Each statement has to end with a semicolon( ; ).

Comments

Comments in Xanadu start with the double forward slash ( // ).

// this is a comment 

Declarations

The yyz keyword is used for declaring variables, similar to var, let, or const in Javascript.

yyz name = "Xanadu";

Functions are declared using the subdivision keyword

subdivision add(a, b) {
   limelight a + b
}

The limelight keyword functions similarly to returnin other languages, terminating the function and returning a value.

The function can later be called like this

yyz x = add(1, 2); // Assigns value of 3 to variable x

Writting to the console

To write to the console, use the blabla keyword, akin to print() or console.log() in other languages.

blabla "Piece"; 

Control flow

while loops are declared using the workingmans_grind keyword

workingmans_grind(true) {
   blabla "Rush rocks!";
}

for loops are declared using the circumstances keyword

circumstances(yyz i = 0; i < 10; i = i + 1) {
    blabla i;
} 

freewill acts like an if statement, executing the block if the condition evaluates to true.

freewill(1 == 1) {
    blabla "I will choose free will";
}

Similar to else, counterpoint executes the block if the previous freewill condition was false.

freewill(1 == 2) {
   blabla "I will choose free will";
} counterpoint {
   blabla "You still made a choice";
} 

Classes

Classes in Xanadu are declared using the overtune keyword

overtune Band
{
    printName(name) {
        blabla name;
    }
}

You can intialize the above class and use its method like so:

yyz band = Band();
band.printName("Rush"); // Prints 'Rush' to the console

You can also use an initializer method (init) to set up class instances, similar to a constructor in other object-oriented languages like Python or Java.

overtune Band
{
    init(name) {
        todays.name = name;
    }

    printName() {
        blabla todays.name;
    }
}

yyz band = Band("Rush");
band.printName(); // prints 'Rush' to the console

The keyword todays acts as a 'this' keyword in other languages and basically refers to the current class instance.

Inheritance

A subclass in Xanadu can inherit from a parent class using the colon (:) symbol, similar to other object-oriented languages like Python. The syrinx keyword refers to the parent class's methods and properties, akin to super in Java or Python.

overtune Band
{
    init() {}

    playSong(bandName, songName) {
        blabla bandName + " Plays " + songName;
    }
}

overtune Rush : Band 
{
    init(name) {
        todays.name = name;
    }

    play(song) {
        syrinx.playSong(todays.name, song);
    }
}

yyz rush = Rush("Rush");
rush.play("2112");

Operators

Arithmetic Operators

Symbol	Operator	Syntax
+	Plus	a + b
-	Minus	a - b
*	Multiply	a * b
/	Divide	a / b

Relational Operators

Symbol	Operator	Syntax
<	Less than	a < b
>	Greater than	a > b
<=	Less than or equal to	a <= b
>=	Greater than or equal to	a >= b
==	Equal to	a == b
!=	Not equal to	a != b

Logical Operators

Symbol	Operator	Syntax
and	Logical AND	a and b
or	Logical OR	a or b
!	Logical NOT	!a

Assignment Operators

Symbol	Operator	Syntax
=	Simple Assignment	a = b

Building Xanadu

To build the Xanadu programming language from source using CMake, follow the instructions below. Ensure that you have CMake and a compatible C++ compiler installed on your system. Prerequisites

Before building the project, ensure you have the following installed:

1. CMake (version 3.30 or higher)
2. C Compiler (e.g., GCC, Clang)
3. Git (if you're cloning the repository)

Build Instructions

1. Clone the repository(if you haven't already):

git clone https://github.com/Turtel216/Xanadu.git
cd Xanadu/interpreter

2. Create a build directory: It's recommended to create a separate directory for the build files.

mkdir build
cd build

3. Run CMake: Configure the project with CMake. In this step, CMake generates the necessary makefiles or project files based on your system's environment.

cmake ..

4. Build the project: Once CMake configuration is complete, you can build the project. This will compile the source code and generate the Xanadu executable(xi).

cmake --build .

5. Run Xanadu: After the build is successful, you can run the Xanadu interpreter:

./xi

You can also provide the interpreter with a xanadu source file:

./xi file.xa

Tooling

• For a better development experience, Xanadu supports the Heaven's Door editor, which provides syntax highlighting specifically for the language.

Examples

You can find several examples covering the features of Xanadu in the examples directory