VintLang

VintLang is a modern, expressive programming language designed for clarity and productivity. It combines familiar syntax with powerful features for building robust applications.

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Language Features

Modern Syntax & Control Flow

// If expressions - use if as both statement and expression
let status = if (user.isActive) { "Online" } else { "Offline" }

// Pattern matching with guards
match user.role {
    "admin" => {
        print("Full access granted")
    }
    "user" => {
        print("Standard access")
    }
    _ => {
        print("Guest access")
    }
}

// Switch with variable binding
switch (response.status) {
    case code if code >= 200 && code < 300 {
        print("Success:", code)
    }
    default {
        print("Error occurred")
    }
}

Flexible Loops & Iteration

// For-in loops with arrays, strings, dictionaries
for item in items {
    process(item)
}

for key, value in data {
    print(key + ":", value)
}

// While loops with break/continue
while (condition) {
    if (shouldSkip) {
        continue
    }
    process()
}

// Repeat loops
repeat 5 {
    print("Iteration:", i)
}

Rich Data Structures

// Arrays with built-in methods
let numbers = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
let doubled = map(numbers, func(x) { return x * 2 })
let evens = filter(numbers, func(x) { return x % 2 == 0 })

// Dictionaries
let config = {
    "app": {"name": "myapp", "port": 8080},
    "features": ["web", "logging"]
}

Modules & Packages

// Static imports
import os
import json
import time

// Dynamic imports at runtime
let yaml = import("yaml")
let math = import("math")

// Custom packages
import my_package
my_package.doSomething()

File I/O & System Operations

// Read and write files
let content = os.readFile("config.yaml")
os.writeFile("output.json", json.encode(data))

// Check file existence
if (os.fileExists("config.json")) {
    // load config
}

Comprehensive Example

import os
import json
import time

// Dynamic imports
let yaml = import("yaml")
let math = import("math")

// Load or create configuration
let cfgStr = ""
if (os.fileExists("config.yaml")) {
    cfgStr = os.readFile("config.yaml")
} else {
    let defaultCfg = {
        "app": {"name": "vint-app", "port": 8080},
        "features": ["web", "logging"]
    }
    cfgStr = yaml.encode(defaultCfg)
    os.writeFile("config.yaml", cfgStr)
}

let cfg = yaml.decode(cfgStr)
let pow = math.pow(2, 10)

let summary = {
    "generated_at": time.format(time.now(), "2006-01-02T15:04:05"),
    "app": yaml.get(cfg, "app.name"),
    "value": pow
}

os.writeFile("summary.json", json.encode(summary))

Run this example:

vint examples/comprehensive_showcase.vint

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Installation

Follow the steps below to easily install VintLang on your Linux or macOS system.

For Linux

1. Download the Binary:

   First, download the VintLang binary for Linux. You can do this using the curl command. This will download the tar.gz file containing the binary to your current directory.

   curl -O -L https://github.com/vintlang/vintlang/releases/download/v0.2.0/vintLang_linux_amd64.tar.gz

2. Extract the Binary to a Global Location:

   After downloading the binary, you need to extract it into a directory that is globally accessible. /usr/local/bin is a commonly used directory for this purpose. The tar command will extract the contents of the tar.gz file and place them in /usr/local/bin.

   sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf vintLang_linux_amd64.tar.gz

   This step ensures that the VintLang command can be used from anywhere on your system.

3. Verify the Installation:

   Once the extraction is complete, confirm that VintLang was installed successfully by checking its version. If the installation was successful, it will display the installed version of VintLang.

   vint -v

4. Initialize a vint project

   Create a simple boilerplate vint project

   vint <optional:project-name>

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Note: Install the vintlang VSCode extension for language support (syntax highlighting, snippets, and tooling).

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For macOS

1. Download the Binary:

   Begin by downloading the VintLang binary for macOS using the following curl command. This will download the tar.gz file for macOS to your current directory.

   curl -O -L https://github.com/vintlang/vintlang/releases/download/v0.2.0/vintLang_mac_amd64.tar.gz

2. Extract the Binary to a Global Location:

   Next, extract the downloaded binary to a globally accessible location. As with Linux, the standard directory for this on macOS is /usr/local/bin. Use the following command to extract the binary:

   sudo tar -C /usr/local/bin -xzvf vintLang_mac_amd64.tar.gz

   This allows you to run VintLang from any terminal window.

3. Verify the Installation:

   To check that the installation was successful, run the following command. It will output the version of VintLang that was installed:

   vint -v

4. Initialize a vint project

   Create a simple boilerplate vint project

   vint init <optional:project-name>

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Note: Install the vintlang VSCode extension for language support (syntax highlighting, snippets, and tooling).

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Summary of Installation Steps

1. Download the Binary using curl for your system (Linux or macOS).
2. Extract the Binary to /usr/local/bin (or another globally accessible directory).
3. Verify the Installation by checking the version with vint -v.
4. Initialize a vintlang project by running vint init <projectname>.
5. Install the vintlang extension from vscode install vintlang extension in vscode

Contributing

We welcome contributions to VintLang! Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or improving documentation, your help is appreciated.

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Author

Created by Tachera Sasi

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