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<ol class="chapter"><li class="chapter-item expanded affix "><a href="index.html" class="active">The Puck Programming Language</a></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="book/OVERVIEW.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">1.</strong> Basic Usage</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.1.</strong> Variables and Comments</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.2.</strong> Functions and Indentation</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.3.</strong> Uniform Function Call Syntax</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.4.</strong> Basic Types</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.5.</strong> Conditionals and Pattern Matching</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.6.</strong> Error Handling</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.7.</strong> Blocks and Loops</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.8.</strong> Module System</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.9.</strong> Compile-time Programming</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.10.</strong> Async System and Threading</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.11.</strong> Memory Management</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.12.</strong> Types System</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.13.</strong> Structs and Tuples</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.14.</strong> Unions and Enums</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">1.15.</strong> Classes</div></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="book/SYNTAX.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">2.</strong> Syntax</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">2.1.</strong> Call Syntax</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">2.2.</strong> Indentation Rules</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">2.3.</strong> Expression Rules</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">2.4.</strong> Reserved Keywords</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">2.5.</strong> A Formal Grammar</div></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="book/TYPES.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">3.</strong> Type System</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">3.1.</strong> Basic Types</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">3.2.</strong> Parameter Types</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">3.3.</strong> Reference Types</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">3.4.</strong> Abstract Types</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">3.5.</strong> Advanced Types</div></li></ol></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><a href="book/MODULES.html"><strong aria-hidden="true">4.</strong> Module System</a></li><li><ol class="section"><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">4.1.</strong> What are modules?</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">4.2.</strong> Using modules</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">4.3.</strong> Implicit modules</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong aria-hidden="true">4.4.</strong> Defining interfaces [todo]</div></li><li class="chapter-item expanded "><div><strong 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<h1 id="-puck---an-experimental-programming-language"><a class="header" href="#-puck---an-experimental-programming-language"><span style="font-family: 'Noto Color Emoji'">🧚</span> Puck - A Programming Language</a></h1>
<p>A place where I can make some bad decisions.</p>
<p>Puck is an experimental, memory safe, structurally typed, interface-first, imperative programming language.
It aims to be consistent and succinct while performant: inspired by the syntax and metaprogramming of <a href="https://nim-lang.org/">Nim</a>, the error handling of <a href="https://www.swift.org/">Swift</a>, the memory management of <a href="https://www.rust-lang.org/">Rust</a> and <a href="https://koka-lang.github.io/">Koka</a>, the async/await and comptime of <a href="https://ziglang.org/">Zig</a>, and the module system of <a href="https://ocaml.org/">OCaml</a>.</p>
<details>
<summary><b>Example: Type Classes</b></summary>
<pre><code class="language-puck"># Note: These declarations are adapted from the standard prelude.
## The Result type. Represents either success or failure.
pub type Result[T, E] = union
Okay(T)
Error(E)
## The Err class. Useful for dynamically dispatching errors.
pub type Err = class
str(Self): str
dbg(Self): str
## A Result type that uses dynamically dispatched errors.
## The Error may be any type implementing the Err class.
pub type Result[T] = Result[T, ref Err]
## Implements the `dbg` function for strings.
## As the `str` function is already defined for strings,
## this in turn means strings now implicitly implement Err.
pub func dbg(self: str) = "\"" & self & "\""
</code></pre>
</details>
<details>
<summary><b>Example: Metaprogramming</b></summary>
<pre><code class="language-puck"># Note: These declarations are adapted from the standard prelude.
## Syntactic sugar for dynamic result type declarations.
pub macro !(T: type) =
quote Result[`T`]
## Indirect access. Propagates `Error`.
pub macro ?[T, E](self: Result[T, E]) =
quote
match `self`
of Okay(x) then x
of Error(e) then return Error(e)
</code></pre>
</details>
<details open>
<summary><b>Example: Pattern Matching</b></summary>
<pre><code class="language-puck">## Opens the std.tables module for unqualified use.
use std.tables
pub type Value = str
pub type Ident = str
pub type Expr = ref union # tagged, algebraic unions
Literal(Value)
Variable(Ident)
Abstraction(param: Ident, body: Expr)
Application(body: Expr, arg: Expr)
Conditional(condition: Expr,
then_branch: Expr, else_branch: Expr)
## Evaluate an Expr down to a Value, or return an Error.
pub func eval(context: mut Table[Ident, Value], expr: lent Expr): Value! =
match expr # structural pattern matching and guards are supported but not shown
of Literal(value) then
Okay(value.clone) # ownership necessitates we explicitly clone
of Variable(ident) then
context.get(ident) # whitespace is significant but flexible
.err("Could not find variable {} in context!"
.fmt(ident)) # uniform function call syntax allows arbitrary piping/chaining
of Application(body, arg) then
if body of Abstraction(param, body as inner_body) then # compact matching with if
context.set(param, context.clone.eval(arg)?)
context.eval(inner_body) # all values must be handled: returns are implicit
else
Error("Expected Abstraction, found body {} and arg {}".fmt(body.clone, arg.clone))
of Conditional(condition, then_branch, else_branch) then
if context.clone.eval(condition)? == "true" then
context.eval(then_case)
else
context.eval(else_case)
of _ then Error("Invalid expression {}".fmt(expr))
</code></pre>
</details>
<details>
<summary><b>Example: Modules</b></summary>
<pre><code class="language-puck"># The top-level module declaration can be elided if the file shares the same name.
pub mod tables =
## The Table class. Any sort of table - no matter the underlying
## representation - must implement these methods.
pub type Table[K, V] = class
get(lent Self, lent K): lent V?
get(mut Self, lent K): mut V?
set(mut Self, lent K, V): V?
pop(mut Self, lent K): V?
clear(mut Self)
size(lent Self): uint
init(varargs (K, V)): Self
...
pub mod hashtable =
use std.hashes
pub type HashTable[K, V] = struct
...
</code></pre>
</details>
<h2 id="why-puck"><a class="header" href="#why-puck">Why Puck?</a></h2>
<p>Puck is primarily a testing ground and should not be used in any important capacity.
Don't use it. Everything is unimplemented and it will break underneath your feet.</p>
<p>That said: in the future, once somewhat stabilized, reasons why you <em>would</em> use it would be for:</p>
<ul>
<li>The <strong>syntax</strong>, aiming to be flexible, predictable, and succinct, through the use of <em>uniform function call syntax</em>, significant whitespace, and consistent scoping rules</li>
<li>The <strong>type system</strong>, being modern and powerful with a strong emphasis on safety, algebraic data types, optional and result types, first-class functions, generics, interfaces, and modules</li>
<li>The <strong>memory management system</strong>, implementing a model of strict ownership with an optimized reference counting escape hatch</li>
<li>The <strong>metaprogramming</strong>, providing integrated macros capable of rewriting the abstract syntax tree before or after typechecking</li>
<li>The <strong>interop system</strong>, allowing foreign functions to be usable with native syntax/semantics from a bevy of other languages</li>
</ul>
<p>This is the language I keep in my head. It sprung from a series of unstructured notes I kept on language design, that finally became something more comprehensive in early 2023. The overarching goal is to provide a language capable of elegantly expressing any problem, and explore ownership and interop along the way.</p>
<h2 id="how-do-i-learn-more"><a class="header" href="#how-do-i-learn-more">How do I learn more?</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>The <a href="book/BASIC.html">basic usage</a> document lays out the fundamental semantics of Puck.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/SYNTAX.html">syntax</a> document provides a deeper and formal look into the grammar of Puck.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/TYPES.html">type system</a> document gives an in-depth analysis of Puck's extensive type system.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/MODULES.html">modules</a> document provides a more detailed look at the first-class module system.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/ERRORS.html">error handling</a> document gives a look at the various kinds of error handling available.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/MEMORY_MANAGEMENT.html">memory management</a> document gives an overview of Puck's memory model.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/METAPROGRAMMING.html">metaprogramming</a> document explains how using metaprogramming to extend the language works.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/ASYNC.html">asynchronous</a> document gives an overview of Puck's colourless asynchronous support.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/INTEROP.html">interop</a> document gives an overview of how the first-class language interop system works.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/STDLIB.html">standard library</a> document provides an overview and examples of usage of the standard library.</li>
<li>The <a href="book/ROADMAP.html">roadmap</a> provides a clear view of the current state and future plans of the language's development.</li>
</ul>
<p>These are best read in order.</p>
<p>Note that all of these documents (and parts of this README) are written as if everything already exists. Nothing already exists! You can see the <a href="book/ROADMAP.html">roadmap</a> for an actual sense as to the state of the language. I simply found writing in the present tense to be an easier way to collect my thoughts.</p>
<p>This language does not currently integrate ideas from the following areas of active research: effects systems, refinement types, and dependent types. It plans to base (un)safety tracking, exception handling, and async/await on a future effects system. It plans to integrate refinement types in the future as a basis for <code>range[]</code> types, and to explore safety and optimizations surrounding integer overflow.</p>
<h2 id="primary-references"><a class="header" href="#primary-references">Primary References</a></h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://graydon2.dreamwidth.org/307291.html">The Rust I wanted had no future</a></li>
<li><a href="https://boats.gitlab.io/blog/post/notes-on-a-smaller-rust/">Notes on a smaller Rust</a></li>
<li><a href="https://matklad.github.io/2023/01/25/next-rust-compiler.html">Notes on the next Rust compiler</a></li>
</ul>
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