1 unstable release
0.1.0 | Aug 21, 2024 |
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#196 in Programming languages
140KB
3.5K
SLoC
qalam
Islamic/Arabic terminology inspired, dead-simple, interpreted, programming language
Table of Contents
Introduction
As a learning exercise, to really hone my skills, I wanted to write a programming language myself. In order to accomplish this, I'm following the amazing tutorial called Crafting Interpreters by Robert Nystrom.
While Robert goes through the entire process, step-by-step, to create a programming language he calls Lox, I didn't want to simply follow a tutorial and copy-paste code. I have found that real learning occurs when you change up tutorials a little so that you can have a deeper understanding.
In order to do this, I decided to create my own syntax for the language with the same general features as Lox. I also decided to use Rust to make the language instead of Java so that I cannot possibly copy-paste code.
Using qalam
- Install the
qalam
interpreter
cargo install qalam
- Create a
.qlm
file with your source code
echo "qul \"hello world!\"" > main.qlm
- Run the
qalam
code
qalam main.qlm
>> hello world!
Syntax
Keywords
Syntax | Meaning/Inspiration | Usage |
---|---|---|
niyya |
Intention. Signifies the intention to store a value. | Variable declarations |
amal |
Good Deeds/Actions. Functions do things (actions/deeds) | Function declarations |
radd |
To return (Arabic) | Return statement |
qul |
To say (Arabic) | Print statement |
ghaib |
Unseen, hidden. Signifies a value is not present | Null value |
niyya a = 1;
niyya b = 2;
amal add(a, b) {
radd a + b;
}
qul add(a, b);
// prints 3
Conditionals
Syntax | Meaning/Inspiration | Usage |
---|---|---|
shart |
Condition. If a condition is satisifed, do something. | If statement |
illa |
Else. Self-explanatory | Else statement |
ilshart |
Combination of shart and illa |
Else-if statement |
haqq |
Truth. A boolean true is the epitome of truth. |
Boolean true value |
batil |
Falsehood. A boolean false is the epitome of falsehood. |
Boolean false value |
wa |
and (Arabic). Self-explanatory. | And operator. Can also use && |
aw |
or (Arabic). Self-explanatory. | Or operator. Can also use || |
la |
not (Arabic). Self-explanatory. | Not operator. Can also use ! |
niyya a = haqq;
niyya b = batil;
shart(a wa b) {
// do something
} ilshart(la a) {
// do something
} illa {
// do something
}
Loops
Syntax | Meaning/Inspiration | Usage |
---|---|---|
tawaf |
Circumbulate. The name for circumbulating around the Ka'bah for Hajj. Signifies going around and around. | For loop |
baynama |
While (Arabic). Self-explanatory | While loop |
iftar |
Breaking fast. The time when Muslims break fast is called iftar . |
Break statement |
safar |
Journey or travel. Signifies the loop is going to continue on it's journey. | Continue statement |
tawaf(niyya i = 0; i < 10; i = i + 1) {
qul i;
// prints 0 to 9
}
niyya a = haqq;
niyya i = 0;
baynama(a) {
shart (i < 10) {
qul i;
// prints 0
i = i + 1;
safar;
} illa {
iftar;
}
}
Objects (Classes)
Syntax | Meaning/Inspiration | Usage |
---|---|---|
kitab |
Chapter (literal: Book) (Arabic). In Islamic books, chapters are called kitab. Classes are similar to chapters as they group related data together. | Class definition |
khalaq |
To create (Arabic). The constructor creates the class object. | Class constructor function |
nafs |
Self/Soul. Islamically, nafs is used to describe desires of the self. Represents the state of the instance (self). | Instance accessor (this in JavaScript, self in Python/Rust) |
ulya |
Most elevated, superior (Arabic). The superclass is superior to the subclass. | Superclass accessor (super in JavaScript) |
ibn |
Son of/Child of (Arabic). Subclasses inherit from the superclass as children inherit from parents | Class inheritance operator |
kitab Animal {
khalaq(name, sound) {
nafs.name = name;
nafs.sound = sound;
}
speak() {
qul nafs.sound;
}
}
kitab Feline ibn Animal {
khalaq(name, sound) {
ulya.khalaq(name, sound);
}
purr() {
qul "purr"
}
}
niyya cat = Feline("Hurayra", "Meow");
cat.speak();
// prints "meow"
cat.purr()
// prints "purr"
Types
Below are the built-in types supported by qalam
:
Type | Description | Initialization Example |
---|---|---|
number |
Numerical value. All numbers are stored as floating point values. Numbers without a fractional part are considered as integers. | niyya num = 1.0; |
string |
Collection of characters. Characters can be indexed with integers. Initialize with double quotes. | niyya name = "Ammar"; |
bool |
Boolean true or false. haqq = true, batil = false. |
niyya is_foo = haqq; |
array |
Collection of any values. Values can be indexed and set with integers. Initialize with square braces. | niyya arr = [1, "one", haqq]; |
Native Functions
I've implemented a few native functions to the program:
Function Name | Parameters | Return Type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
clock |
number |
Returns the time elapsed since the epoch in seconds | |
typeof |
arg: any |
string |
Returns type of argument as a string |
str |
arg: any |
string |
Converts the argument to a string |
str2num |
arg: string |
number |
Converts the argument to a number. Throws error if not possible. |
substr |
arg: string, start: number (positive int), length: number (positive int) |
string |
Returns a substring of the argument starting at start with length of length |
index_of |
arg: string, substring: string |
number |
Returns the index of the start of a substring in the argument. Returns -1 if not found. |
replace |
arg: string, old_substr: string, new_substr: string |
string |
Replaces all occurrences of old_substr in the argument with new_substr . |
len |
arg: string | array |
number |
Returns the length of a string or array. |
max |
a: number, b: number |
number |
Returns the maximum of the inputs |
min |
a: number, b: number |
number |
Returns the minimum of the inputs |
pow |
base: number, exp: number |
number |
Raises the base to the power of the exponent |
random |
min: number, max: number |
number |
Returns a random number in the range of min to max |
random_int |
min: number (int), max: number (int) |
number |
Returns a random integer in the range of min to max |
push |
arr: array, val: any |
ghaib |
Pushes a value to the end of an array |
pop |
arr: array |
any |
Pops a value from the end of the array and returns it. If it does not exist, returns ghaib |
Array |
size: number (positive int), value: any |
array |
Creates an array of size values all initialized to value . |
code |
char: string |
number |
Returns the character code for a single character string. |
floor |
num: number |
number |
Returns the closest integer less than or equal to num |
ceil |
num: number |
number |
Returns the closest integer greater than or equal to num |
round |
num: number |
number |
Returns the closest to num . If num is halfway between 2 integers, returns away from 0. |
Complete Example
To showcase the functionalty of qalam
, I've provided an example below of reversing a linked list:
kitab ListNode {
khalaq(value, next) {
nafs.value = value;
nafs.next = next;
}
}
amal list_to_string(head) {
niyya string = "";
niyya curr = head;
baynama(curr != ghaib) {
string += str(curr.value);
shart(curr.next) {
string += " -> ";
}
curr = curr.next;
}
radd string;
}
niyya list = ListNode(1, ListNode(2, ListNode(3, ListNode(4, ListNode(5, ghaib)))));
amal reverse_list(head) {
niyya prev = ghaib;
niyya curr = head;
niyya next = ghaib;
baynama(curr != ghaib) {
next = curr.next;
curr.next = prev;
prev = curr;
curr = next;
}
radd prev;
}
qul "Original list:";
qul list_to_string(list);
qul "Reversed list:";
qul list_to_string(reverse_list(list));
Output
Original list:
1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4 -> 5
Reversed list:
5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1
More Examples
I've provided many more examples, in the examples directory. You can run them with cargo run --example <name>
or by running the main.qlm
file inside the examples subdirectory with qalam <file_path>
.
Speed
qalam
is an interpreted language with dynamic types. However, since there are essentially zero optimizations done, it is extremely slow. I am also an extreme amateur when it comes to Rust programming, therefore, it is probably even slower than Robert's implementation in Java as I definitely did a million things wrong when using Rust.
In order to showcase how slow it actually is, I'll compare it's speed to JavaScript and Python (interpreted, dynamically typed languages). For the comparison, I'll use the calculation of the 30th fibonacci number using a recursive algorithm.
Below are the scripts for each language
Python
import time
def fib(n):
if n <= 1:
return n
else:
return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2)
start = time.time()
result = fib(30)
end = time.time()
print(f"{end - start}")
JavaScript
function fib(n) {
if (n <= 1) {
return n;
} else {
return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2);
}
}
let start = Date.now() / 1000;
let result = fib(30);
let end = Date.now() / 1000;
console.log(`${end - start}`);
Qalam
amal fib(n) {
shart(n <= 1) {
radd n;
} illa {
radd fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2);
}
}
niyya start = clock();
niyya result = fib(30);
niyya end = clock();
qul(str(end - start));
Each test was run 10 times and the average runtime is tabulated below:
Language | Average Runtime (s) |
---|---|
JavaScript | 0.0185 |
Python | 0.2238 |
Qalam | 78.2590 |
JavaScript and Python take less than second each. Qalam takes more than a minute. It is extremely slow, however, I am still proud that it works lol.
Dependencies
~690KB
~12K SLoC