g

README

G programming language

A new programming language - WIP

G is a refined C (based on Go) with a few cool things like packages and multiple returns.

G aims to...

• Be easy to parse and analyze like Go.
• Do anything C can do (unions, unsafe things).
• Be lean like C, should be suitable for things like kernels, etc.
• Have perfect interop with C.
• Have clear mapping to underlying machine code.
• Have inline assembly support.
• Use packages similar to Go and not headers.
• Have useful but minimalist extra features.

And more.

G is not trying to compete with big languages like rust or C++. It just trying to be as close to C as possible while mostly simplifying, and improving things. It is still just portable assembly.

Status

Currently undergoing large refactor so broken, look back later.

Build and test:

install clang then run:

go get github.com/andrewchambers/g
cd $GOPATH/src/andrewchambers/g
go test ./...

Examples (not all implemented):

Hello world:

package main

import "stdio"

func main() int {
    stdio.printf("hello world!\n")
    return 0
}

Switch Improvements:

switch {
    case strcmp(s,"foo") == 0:
    case strcmp(s,"bar") == 0:
    default:
}

// Errors on duplicated cases.
switch v {
    case 0,1,2:
    case 4..10:
    default:
}

Multiple return:

type errcode int

func Foo() (int,errcode) {
    return 0,-1
}

...
  var v,err = Foo()

Structs and unions:

type s struct {
   x int
   y int
}

type u union {
   x int
   y int
}

Simple type inference:

type s struct {
   x int
   y int
}

...

var v = &s{x : 0 , y :1}

Tuple types and simple destructuring:

    var x = 1,2 // x is a tuple
    ...
    var x,y = 1,2 // x and y are destructured
    ...
    var x,y (int,byte) = 1,2 // explicit typing of tuple
    ...
    var x = (1,"foo")
    var y = x[1] // y is now type *char

Saner left to right declaration syntax:

// x is a function pointer which takes an int and a byte and returns a pointer to an array of 32 ints.
 var x func (int,byte) *[32]int

Tentative examples

Typed new keyword?

 var x = new int
 var x = new [20]int

Refcount type or types (atomic ref for thread safety)?:

// No idea on syntax
func newRef () ref Foo {
    var r = newref Foo
    return r
}
//  what about ref arith?
XXX

Tagged union perhaps? might be too much, when people can just do it themselves. The problem this solves is explicitly catching all cases if requirements change.

 
 type ASTNode tunion {
     
     x struct {
        foo int
     }
     
     y struct {
        bar int
     }
     
     z struct {
        baz int
     }
 }
 
 
 var v ASTNode = x{}
 
 // Catches unhandled cases with compiler error.
 match v {
    case x:
        v.foo
    case y:
        v.bar
    case z:
        v.baz
 }

Switch case on enums? Solves the problem above but is more general.:

type MyEnumType enum {
            X
            Y
            Z
}

var v = MyEnumType{X}

// Error catches unhandled enum cases.
switch v {
    case X,Y:
    case Z:
}

Deferred cleanup:

func doSomething () (int,*char) {
    var p *Foo = malloc(sizeof(Foo))
    if p == nil {
        return -1,"malloc failed"
    }
    //After a defer block is executed, the contained block will run on containing scope exit.
    defer {
        free((*void)p)
    }
    
    if cond() {
        return 0,""
    }
    
    return 1,""
}

brain storm

• gfmt tool.
• Package layouts like go.
• Multiple return values are just syntatic sugar over hidden pointer args. This allows C abi compatibility.
• Go style exports with case. But can be overridden with private or public keywords to allow c interop.
• Tagged unions supported explicitly
• No implicit casts like go.
• Less memory safety than go - can access arbitrary addresses.
• Directly output LLVM text assembly.
• support for inline assembly
• no := syntax. it does save alot of typing. var x = is probably less confusing to new people and less redundant.
• Bounds checking on arrays? optional or not?
• Macros as invoked subprograms? avoids needing special dsl, just a specified data format etc.
• Tuples + destructuring for multiple return?