erick-alcachofa
8f15650a42
Signed-off-by: erick-alcachofa <erick@artichoke.dev> Introduces 'docs/example.arti' as an exhaustive showcase of the `artichoke` programming language syntax and grammar. This file serves as a technical specification and "living documentation" for the language. Key features demonstrated include: - Module imports and symbol aliasing (using). - Generic definitions vs. Turbofish (::<>) instantiations. - Designated initializers (.field = expr) and member functions (this). - Tagged enums and explicit error handling via Result<T, E>. - Pointer (*), mutability ($), and optional (?) type qualifiers. - Slice syntax, array literals, and specialized suffixes (.*, .#, .[]). - Advanced control flow: Result/Optional unwrapping (|val|) and labeled loops. - Compile-time reflection using the .@ operator.
⚠️ WIP Highly Experimental Project
- The language, compiler, and tools are under active development and may be very unstable.
- There will likely be breaking changes and periods where no work is done on the project.
- Expect breaking changes as the compiler progresses through semantic analysis and code generation.
The artichoke Programming Language
artichoke is a modern, statically-typed programming language designed to
satisfy my personal preferences and requirements for programming, combining the
low-level control and powerful modern features like a robust type system,
generics, integrated error handling, and a clean, ergonomic syntax.
The goal of artichoke is to provide a language that is simple, safe, and
productive for programming, eliminating common pitfalls without sacrificing
performance or control.
For a detailed guide to the language, grammar specification, and syntax features, please see the project wiki
Core Philosophy & Features
artichoke is built around a few core principles to create a safer, more
productive programming experience:
- Explicitness: Type conversions and error handling are explicit.
- Safety: Non-nullable pointers, a robust type system, and deterministic resource management are prioritized.
- Unambiguous Design: A grammar designed for fast, single-pass parsing and clear error reporting.
- Modern Ergonomics: Features like generics, defer, and a clean module system reduce boilerplate and improve readability.
The language includes a powerful generic type system, first-class error handling, a full suite of control flow statements (including match), a true module system, and compile-time reflection.
Project Status
artichoke is currently in the early implementation phase. The front-end
infrastructure is not yet defined but contains a simple program for printing and
visualizing the generated AST, development has shifted now toward semantic
validation.
- Lexical Analysis: Full tokenizer implementation.
- Syntactic Analysis: Handwritten Recursive Descent + Pratt Expression Parser.
- AST Infrastructure: Complete Abstract Syntax Tree with Graphviz and String-Graph based visualization support.
- Semantic Analysis (In Progress): Multi-pass symbol table generation and type checking.
- Backend: Code generation and optimization.
Building from Source
# Get the source code
git clone https://git.artichoke.dev/me/artichoke-lang.git
# Configure cmake
# Optionally add -DENABLE_TESTING=ON for building tests
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -S . -B build
# Build the project
cmake --build build
# Run the compiler frontend binary
./build/frontend/artichoke-c <input_file>
# Run the tests if enabled
ctest --test-dir build/tests --output-on-failure
# Install library and frontend binary if wanted
cmake --install build --prefix=/usr/local
# Run the installed binary
arti-c
Contributing
The artichoke project is hosted on a personal, self-hosted Gitea instance. If
you are interested in contributing, you have two options:
- Request an Account: Please contact support@artichoke.dev to request an account on the Gitea instance.
- Submit Patches: Alternatively, you can send patches or diffs directly to the same email address.
In all cases, proper attribution will be given for your contributions in the source files and/or the project wiki.
License
This project is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0. The full license text can be found in the LICENSE file in this repository.