____  _       ____          _
  |  _ \(_)_ __ / ___|___   __| | ___
  | |_) | | '_ \ |   / _ \ / _` |/ _ \
  |  _ <| | |_) | |__| (_) | (_| |  __/
  |_| \_\_| .__/ \____\___/ \__,_|\___|
           |_|

RipCode 🤘

A destructive-first programming language that transpiles to JavaScript.

RipCode combines a metal/cyberpunk aesthetic with real programming power. Forge variables, shred through loops, pipe data through riffs, and mosh your async operations — all transpiled to clean, runnable JavaScript.

Install

npm install -g ripcode

Or try it without installing:

npx ripcode run hello.rip

Quick Start

# Create a new project
rip init my-project
cd my-project

# Run it
rip run main.rip

# Or build to JavaScript
rip build main.rip -o out.js

Hello World

// hello.rip
say "Hello, world!"

forge name = "RipCode"
say "Welcome to ${name} 🤘"

rip run hello.rip

Language Reference

Variables & Constants

forge x = 10          // let x = 10
lock PI = 3.14        // const PI = 3.14

Destructuring

forge obj = { name: "rip", version: 1 }
rip name, version from obj

forge arr = [1, 2, 3]
rip a, b, c from arr

Functions (Riffs)

// Single expression (auto-returns)
riff double(x) -> x * 2

// Block body
riff greet(name) {
  forge msg = "Hey, ${name}!"
  say msg
  return msg
}

// Default params + rest
riff log(level = "info", ...args) {
  say level, args
}

Pipeline Operator (~>)

Chain data through functions left-to-right:

riff double(x) -> x * 2
riff addTen(x) -> x + 10
riff square(x) -> x * x

forge result = 5 ~> double ~> addTen ~> square
say result  // 400

Noise Levels (Output)

whisper "debug info"       // console.debug
say "normal output"        // console.log
yell "warning!"            // console.warn
scream "EVERYTHING BROKE"  // console.error

Loops

// For-of loop
forge items = ["guitar", "bass", "drums"]
shred items as item {
  say item
}

// While loop
forge count = 3
while count > 0 {
  say "${count}..."
  count = count - 1
}

Conditionals

forge score = 95

if score >= 90 {
  say "A — shredding it!"
} else if score >= 80 {
  say "B — solid riff"
} else {
  yell "Needs practice"
}

Lambdas

forge double = |x| -> x * 2
forge add = |a, b| -> a + b

say double(21)   // 42
say add(20, 22)  // 42

Error Handling

brace {
  // risky code here
  forge data = riskyOperation()
} recover err {
  scream "Crashed: ${err}"
}

Concurrency (Mosh Pit)

mosh {
  fetchUsers(),
  fetchPosts(),
  fetchComments()
} -> results

Imports & Exports

// Import
grab { readFile } from "fs"
grab path from "path"

// Export
riff helper() -> "help"
drop helper
drop { helper, anotherFn }

String Interpolation

forge name = "world"
forge greeting = "Hello, ${name}!"
forge math = "2 + 2 = ${2 + 2}"

CLI Commands

Command	Description
rip run <file.rip>	Transpile and execute
rip build <file.rip> [-o out.js]	Transpile to JavaScript
rip init [name]	Scaffold a new project
rip repl	Interactive RipCode REPL
rip version	Show version
rip help	Show help

Hidden Commands

RipCode has 35 easter eggs baked in. Here are the ones we'll admit to:

Command	What it does
rip solo	Animated ASCII guitar solo
rip lore	Typewriter-style origin story
rip noise	Visual hierarchy of noise levels
rip 666	Number of the Beast Mode
rip credits	Movie-style rolling credits
rip unleash	Opens the Actor Arsenal
rip quake	Plays the Quake theme (macOS, caches on first use)
rip hierarchy	DOOM-style boss health bars for your project
rip battle <f1> <f2>	Two .rip files fight in a 6-round tournament
rip sacrifice <file>	Dramatic file deletion (recoverable)
rip resurrect [file]	Bring a file back from the graveyard
rip fortune	Metal fortune cookie
rip rage <msg>	Escalating ASCII rage
rip summon-kenny-g	The ultimate punishment
rip roast <file>	Metric-based code roast
rip roastme	Random humor from the rip-on-shit engine
rip headcount	How many secrets exist

There are also date-triggered surprises, a 5% chance of random quips, a Konami code in the REPL, and other things you'll have to find yourself.

Secret Language Features

// Battle cries — comments that survive transpilation
//! DESTROY ALL SEMICOLONS

// Headbang — the metal no-op
headbang

// Encore — repeat the previous statement
say "Hello!"
encore

// Summon — alt import syntax
summon { readFileSync } from "fs"

// Scream auto-caps at runtime
scream "this becomes ALL CAPS"

// The answer to everything
say 42    // prints: 42 (The Answer)

// The meaning of life
forge _meaning_of_life = 43   // transpiler adds: /* are you sure? */

Every transpiled file ends with // Forged with RipCode 🤘

Full Cheat Sheet

RipCode	JavaScript
forge x = 10	let x = 10
lock PI = 3.14	const PI = 3.14
rip a, b from obj	const { a, b } = obj
riff fn(x) -> x * 2	function fn(x) { return x * 2 }
data ~> fn1 ~> fn2	fn2(fn1(data))
whisper "x"	console.debug("x")
say "x"	console.log("x")
yell "x"	console.warn("x")
scream "x"	console.error("x")
shred arr as x { }	for (const x of arr) { }
brace { } recover { }	try { } catch(e) { }
mosh { } -> r	await Promise.all([...])
grab { x } from "y"	const { x } = require("y")
drop fn	module.exports.fn = fn
|x| -> x * 2	(x) => x * 2

Error Messages

RipCode has themed error messages:

🔥 TRACK SCRATCHED (Syntax Error)
   at line 5, col 12
   Unexpected token 'blah' — expected '}'

💀 GHOST NOTE (Reference Error)
   at line 8
   'userName' doesn't exist in this pit

🎸 BROKEN STRING (String Error)
   at line 3
   Unterminated string — did you forget to close your quotes?

Examples

Check out the examples/ directory:

• hello.rip — Noise levels and basic variables
• pipeline.rip — Data pipelines with ~>
• mosh.rip — Loops, conditionals, grade report
• full-demo.rip — Complete feature showcase
• easter-eggs.rip — Hidden language features showcase

How It Works

RipCode is a source-to-source transpiler:

1. Lexer (src/lexer.js) — Tokenizes .rip source code
2. Parser (src/parser.js) — Recursive descent parser → AST
3. Transpiler (src/transpiler.js) — AST → JavaScript
4. Runtime (src/runtime.js) — Helper functions (pipelines, mosh, noise)

Zero dependencies. Pure Node.js.

License

MIT