Jambo🔥PROGRAMMING🔥LANGUAGE

A Swahili Programming Language of its kind built from the ground up.

Installation

To get started download the executables from the release page or follow the instructions for your device below:

Linux

• Download the binary:

curl -O -L https://github.com/spaceadh/Jambo/releases/download/v0.5.16/jambo_Linux_amd64.tar.gz

• Extract the file to make global available:

sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf jambo_Linux_amd64.tar.gz

• Confirm installation with:

jambo -v

MacOs ( Apple silicon Mac )

• Download the binary:

  • For apple silicon mac use:

    curl -O -L https://github.com/spaceadh/Jambo/releases/download/v0.5.16/jambo_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz
    

  • For apple intel mac use:

    curl -O -L https://github.com/spaceadh/Jambo/releases/download/v0.5.16/jambo_Darwin_amd64.tar.gz
    

• Extract the file to make global available:

  • For apple silicon mac use:

    sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf jambo_Darwin_arm64.tar.gz
    

  • For apple intel mac use:

    sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf jambo_Darwin_amd64.tar.gz
    

• Confirm installation with:

jambo -v

Android (Termux)

• Make sure you have Termux installed.
• Download the binary with this command:

curl -O -L https://github.com/spaceadh/Jambo/releases/download/v0.5.16/jambo_Android_arm64.tar.gz

• Extract the file:

tar -xzvf jambo_Android_arm64.tar.gz

• Add it to path:

echo "alias jambo='~/jambo'" >> .bashrc

• Confirm installation with:

jambo -v 

Windows

• Executable:

  • Download the Jambo zip file Here
  • Unzip to get the executable
  • Double click the executable

• Jambo Installer

  Coming Soon

Building From Source

• Make sure you have golang installed (atleast 1.19.0 and above)
• Run the following command:

go build -o jambo main.go

• You can optionally add the binary to $PATH as shown above
• Confirm installtion with:

jambo -v

Syntax At A Glance

NOTE

There is a more detailed documentation of the language here.

Jambo, although still in its early stage, intends to be a fully functional programming language, and thus it has been baked with many features.

Defining A Variable

You can define variables like this:

x = 2;
y = 3;

andika(x*y) // output is 6

You can also use the fanya keyword to define a variabe:

fanya x = 3

Note that fanya keyword is OPTIONAL

Comments

Jambo supports both single line and multiple line comments as shown below:

// Single line comment

/*
Multiple
Line
Comment 
*/ 

Arithmetic Operations

For now Jambo supports +, -, /, * and %. Jambo also provides precedence of operations using the BODMAS rule:

2 + 2 * 3 // output = 8

2 * (2 + 3) // output = 10

Types

Jambo has the following types:

Type	Syntax	Comments
BOOL	kweli sikweli	kweli == true, sikweli == false
INT	1, 100, 342, -4	These are signed 64 bit integers
FLOAT	2.3, 4.5. 100.8094	Signed 64 bit floats
STRING	"" "mambo" "habari yako"	They can be in double " or single ' quotes
ARRAY	[] [1, 2, 3] [1, "moja", kweli]	Arrays can hold any types
DICT	{} {"a": 3, 1: "moja", kweli: 2}	Keys can be int, string or bool. Values can be anything
NULL	tupu	These are nil objects

Functions

This is how you define a function in Jambo:

jumlisha = unda(x, y) {
        rudisha x + y
    }

andika(jumlisha(3,4))

Jambo also supports recursion:

fibo = unda(x) {
	kama (x == 0) {
		rudisha 0;
	} au kama (x == 1) {
			rudisha 1;
	} sivyo {
			rudisha fibo(x - 1) + fibo(x - 2);
	}
}

If Statements

Jambo supports if, elif and else statements with keywords kama, au kama and sivyo respectively:

kama (2<1) {
    andika("Mbili ni ndogo kuliko moja")
} au kama (3 < 1) {
    andika ("Tatu ni ndogo kuliko moja")
} sivyo {
    andika("Moja ni ndogo")
}

While Loops

Jambo's while loop syntax is as follows:

i = 10

wakati (i > 0) {
	andika(i)
	i--
}

Arrays

This is how you initiliaze and perform other array operations in Jambo:

arr = []

// To add elements

sukuma(arr, 2)
andika(arr) // output = [2]
// Add two Arrays

arr2 = [1,2,3,4]

arr3 = arr1 + arr2

andika(arr3) // output = [2,1,2,3,4]

// reassign value

arr3[0] = 0

andika[arr3] // output = [0,1,2,3,4]

// get specific item

andika(arr[3]) // output = 3

Dictionaries

Jambo also supports dictionaries and you can do a lot with them as follows:

mtu = {"jina": "Mojo", "kabila": "Mnyakusa"}

// get value from key 
andika(mtu["jina"]) // output = Mojo

andika(mtu["kabila"]); // output = Mnyakusa

// You can reassign values

mtu["jina"] = "Victor Alvin"

andika(mtu["jina"]) // output = Victor Alvin

// You can also add new values like this:

mtu["anapoishi"] = "Dar Es Salaam"

andika(mtu) // output = {"jina": "Victor Alvin", "kabila": "Mnyakusa", "anapoishi": "Dar Es Salaam"}

// You can also add two Dictionaries

kazi = {"kazi": "jambazi"}

mtu = mtu + kazi

andika(mtu) // output = {"jina": "Victor Alvin", "kabila": "Mnyakusa", "anapoishi": "Dar Es Salaam", "kazi": "jambazi"}

For Loops

These can iterate over strings, arrays and dictionaries:

kwa i ktk "habari" {
    andika(i)
}
/* //output
h
a
b
a
r
i
*/

Getting Input From User

In Jambo you can get input from users using the jaza() keyword as follows:

jina = jaza("Unaitwa nani? ") // will prompt for input

andika("Habari yako " + jina)

How To Run

Using The Intepreter:

You can enter the intepreter by simply running the jambo command:

jambo
>>> andika("karibu")
karibu
>>> 2 + 2
4

Kindly Note that everything should be placed in a single line. Here's an example:

>>> kama (x > y) {andika("X ni kubwa")} sivyo {andika("Y ni kubwa")}

Running From File

To run a Jambo script, write the jambo command followed by the name of the file with a .jb or .sw extension:

jambo myFile.jb

Issues

Kindly open an Issue to make suggestions and anything else.

Contributions

Documentation

There are documentations for two languages, English and Kiswahili, which are both under the docs folder. All files are written in markdown. Feel free to contribute by making a pull request.

Code

Clone the repo, hack it, make sure all tests are passing then submit a pull request.

Make sure ALL tests are passing before making a pull request. You can confirm with running make tests

Community

Jambo has a passionate community, join us on Telegram

License

MIT

Authors

Jambo Programming Language has been authored and being actively maintained by Victor Alvin