TinyLang is a small, barebones, interpreted programming language developed to demonstrate the basics of writing a compiler or interpreter. So far, it is only 330 significant lines of code long. TinyLang has no functions, arrays, objects or libraries, but it still has enough functionality to write any program possible.
The tutorial to write your own TinyLang interpeter can be found here
Variables can be assigned using the ":" operator. For example:
x: 4
Here, the variable "x" is assigned the value 4. There are no types in TinyLang, and all variables are 32-bit integers.
User input can be read and assigned to a variable using the postfix "?" operator. For example:
x?
The program will wait for user input to be given, and will assign the integer value to the given varaible.
TinyLang can parse and evaluate expressions, with a list of some operators. They are listed below, in reverse order of operation.
| Token | Description |
|---|---|
| <identifier> | Any text in the program that is not a keyword, or surrounded by quotes. Represents a variable. |
| <number> | Any positive, whole number. Represents a constant value |
| <string> | Any text in the program that is surrounded by double quotes. |
| ! | Postfix operator. prints expression to standard out, returns expression result. |
| ? | Postfix operator. Assigns user input to operand, returns expression result. |
| : | Assignment. Assigns expression evaluation to variable, returns expression result. |
| and | Logical and. |
| or | Logical or. |
| = | Equality comparison. |
| > | Greater-than comparison. |
| < | Less-than comparison. |
| + | Addition. |
| - | Subtraction. |
| * | Multiplication. |
| / | Integer division. |
| ( and ) | Parenthesis, used to explicitly state order of operations. |
Identifiers must start with a letter as their first character, but then can contain digits and underscores.
Number literals must be positive. Negative numbers can be achieved like so:
x: 0-4
"x now has the value -4"
Strings function as both pieces of text that can be printed out, and as comments, if they are not printed.
"This is a comment."
"This is a piece of text."!
There are a few control flow structures defined in TinyLang. They are as follows:
| Token | Description |
|---|---|
| { code } | The inside code is executed, counts as one statement. |
| if expression code | If the expression evaluates to true, the code is executed. |
| while expression code | While the expression evaluates to true, the code is executed. |
| halt | Stops the program. |
Some examples:
age?
if age > 18 or age = 18 {
"You can vote!"!
}
if age < 18 {
"You cannot vote."!
}
count: 5
while count > 0 or count = 0 {
count!
count: count - 1
}
"Liftoff!"!
while 1 {
"Enter 4 to end the program"!
input?
if input = 4 {
halt
}
"Let's try again"!
}
The following TinyLang program asks the user for a number between 2 and 11, and prints the fibonacci number at that index.
"This is a simple factorial program, written in TinyLang. It demonstrates
that TinyLang can take input, produce output, and make decisions."
a: 1
b: 1
sum: 0
i: 2
chosen: 0
"Ask for user input"
while chosen = 0 {
n?
if n > 11 {
"Please choose a smaller number."!
}
if n < 2 {
"Please choose a larger number."!
}
if (n = 11 or n < 11) and (n > 1){
chosen: 1
}
}
"Print out first n fib numbers"
while i < n or i = n {
sum: a+b
a: b
b: sum
i: i + 1
sum!
}
"Done."!
halt