Torvik v1.4.0 — Optional & variadic parameters, and networking

Torvik v1.4.0 makes function calls more flexible and safer, closes the last of the
expression-chaining rough edges, and adds a small, opt-in HTTP layer so Torvik programs
can serve files and answer requests. The compiler remains fully self-hosting — it builds
itself byte-identically on Linux and Windows.

Highlights

Optional (^) and variadic (*) parameters.
Mark a trailing parameter ^ and callers may omit it (it takes a type-appropriate zero),
or * to gather the remaining arguments into a list<T>. They combine in the order
required → optional → variadic, and wrong argument counts are clean, located range errors.

df greet(name: str, ^count: i64) -> void {
    echo!("hi {name} x{count}");
}
greet("a");        // hi a x0
greet("b", 3);     // hi b x3

df join_words(sep: str, *words: str) -> str { /* ... */ }
join_words(", ", "a", "b", "c");   // a, b, c

Arguments are type-checked at the call site.
Passing an argument whose type can't match the parameter — a number where a string is
expected, a decimal where an integer is expected, a list where a scalar is expected — is
now a clean error instead of silent garbage or a crash at run time. Ambiguous cases are
left alone, so correct programs are never rejected.

Boolean chaining is limit-free.
&& and || now work as values bound to a variable (fixed ok: bool = a && b;,
including three-way), not just inside conditions, and a boolean-returning builtin or user
function can be compared to a literal:

fixed ready: bool = a && b;
check contains(line, "error") == false { ... }

std::net — a minimal HTTP layer.
apply std::net; brings in request parsing, MIME types, path_is_safe, and response
builders over transport primitives — net_listen, net_accept, net_recv, net_send,
net_send_file, net_close — that dead-strip out of programs that never call them, so
you pay nothing unless you use them. net_send_file streams bytes verbatim, so binary
assets serve intact. It's enough to serve a static site or a small localhost API (and it
powers Vefna's new vefna serve).

Also: chr(code) and fs_size(path) builtins; standard library v1.3.0.

rune has moved

As of this release, rune lives in its own repository —
https://github.com/torvik-lang/rune — and versions independently. It still installs
alongside torvc and manages Torvik exactly as before; rune update moves you to the
latest of both.

Fixes

• Exhaustive when no longer trips a flow-checker false positive.
• A boolean literal passed as an argument no longer produces malformed IR.
• A bool (or narrow-int) value returned from a user function is now stored correctly.
• Single-character function names (a, g, p, …) resolve everywhere — previously they
  could be wrongly reported "undefined" when apply std; was present.

Install / upgrade

Already on Torvik? Just run rune update.

New install (needs clang on your PATH):

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torvik-lang/torvik/main/linux/install.sh | sh
# Windows (PowerShell)
iwr -useb https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torvik-lang/torvik/main/windows/install.ps1 | iex

Linux and Windows (x86-64); macOS is planned once real Apple hardware is available for
testing.

Links

• Full changelog: https://github.com/torvik-lang/torvik/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md
• Guide, standard library, and tooling docs: https://github.com/torvik-lang/torvik/tree/main/docs
• Wiki: https://github.com/torvik-lang/torvik/wiki