another programming language

This is just another programming language I'm making for fun. It's mildly based on another project I made, PLT and JavaScript.

It's one of those silly interpret-on-the-go programming languages that don't compile to bytecode. This means it's probably much less efficient than, like, any other programming language.

It's a functional programming language (i.e. functions are first class).

That's about it. If you're interested in running it, you can just clone this repository and use gulp (while cd'd into the repository obviously [also don't forget to npm install]).

It doesn't make sense. Please ignore the fact that it doesn't make sense? Also, hide, far, far away from the source code. It might lash out and hurt somebody's brain.

Examples

Hello world:

print("Hello, world!");

Comments:

# This is a comment #
print("Hi!");

Variables:

my_var => 42;
print(my_var);

Functions:

my_fn => fn(x) {
    return(+(x, 3));
};

print(my_fn(4));

If/else:

ifel(true, fn() {
    print("Called for true");
}, fn() {
    print("Called for false");
});

Control structures and syntax and such

There are basically no control structures. In one command (each separated by semicolons) you can do the following:

• Assign or change a variable. (variable_name => value, variable_name -> new_value)
• Evaluate an expression.
  • Call a function (function(arg1, arg2, arg3))
  • Get a variable (variable_name)
  • Do something related to object properties
  • Evaluate a special token, like a string, number or function

But.. where are things like if? Well, if is a function. So you'll want to evaluate a call a function expression:

if(true_or_false, call_for_true);

Here's an example of a program using all the things I showed above. Please excuse my terrible ASCII labelling.

# Variable assign..                             #
#  v--- Variable identifier                     #
#  v    vvvv--- A boolean literal.              #
   x => true;

#  v--- Get a variable using identifier "if",   #
#  |    this is built-in so all programs will   #
#  |    automatically have "if" as a variable.  #
#  |  v--- Get a variable using identifier "x", #
#  |  |    which we assigned earlier.           #
#  |  |  vvvvvv--- A function literal.          #
   if(x, fn() {

#    vvvvv--- Get a variable using identifier   #
#    |||||    "print", which is also built-in.  #
#    ||||| vvvvvvvv--- A string literal.        #
     print("Hello!");

   });

Should I use it?

No. Its syntax is pretty similar to JavaScript, so why aren't you using JavaScript?

On the other hand, if you're just looking at it as a fun project I made as an experiment, go ahead and use it. I have nothing against you using it - I'd enjoy it if you used it! - but it's not a very good programming language, so don't expect something amazing.

Can I have a specification?

No. Cool languages have specifications. But I'm not sure making a specification for this simple experimental project is either worth it or my style.