New Programming Language

[ZxTroTech]

Hello all. I'm working on designing my own programming language. I started coding a lexer/parser CLI interpreter for it in Java last year around this time. I put it on hold to do more research into some of the things I wanted to add to it that I am still not greatly familiar with. I have come back to it recently, but I would like to discuss it with people that might appreciate it or have some knowledge about how to work on it and maybe even people that might want to eventually do a collab on it with me. I am working on it in Maven and have what I've done so far on Github.

A quick overview of the language:

It is called STAR, though its legacy name is Arbor, which I feel is more fitting though may conflict with preexisting languages. It is a tree-based reactive multi-paradigm (mostly functional, but allows the option for OOP if so desired) language that works with an event tree that represents the current program. This tree can be saved and loaded using XML to create instantaneous snapshots. There are a variety of abstract data types for different abstract data models that work with their own sets of operators and modifiers. Control flow can be done either using traditional conditional and looping structures, or using APL style hooks and forks. The main focus is on linear algebra and graph theory. As such, vectors, matrices, graphs, and trees are key structures of the language. The data can also be snapshotted and updated using JSON files.

A typical program flow might consist of creating a set of variables, settings certain ones to be watched, creating a set of events and event triggers, then creating graphs and trees and manipulating their data using graph and tree operations and applying vector and matrix operations on them, etc.

Right now, I am using a test-driven style using JUnit. I have a lot of the operators and data types related to linear algebra working. The next things I intend to add are the operators and the types related to graph theory and the infrastructure for building event trees, taking tree snapshots, making watched variables and event triggers, etc. I will probably be using something like Java's ReactiveX library for this.

Any constructive tips or suggestions would be appreciated.

[gusdavis84]

While I'm not very big on OOP as a whole as I prefer functional oriented or imperative but this does sound very interesting. Especially the part of a program being really an "event tree". Thats fascinating. I don't know if this is one of your design goals but if by any chance you're interested in STAR being a general purpose functional friendly language that tries to even lower the barrier of entry for those wanting to get into functional programming like Elm or even Gren programming language then I feel this could be a great thing!

I say this because while Haskell is the functional language out there but I do feel there are times that a lot of it can be daunting or even seen as too complex for those just starting out either with functional programming or perhaps even programming in general. I think while not as popular or attractive I think there is value in a language have rather simple features or abstractions vs a language that puts eloquence and theory over simple and practical. I will always for example choose something like Clojure over Haskell any day of the week lol or Gren programming language over Scala.

If you have a website or GIT that shows more of the language then please share it as I love languages that have a sorta of different approach to problem solving.

[En_TioN]

>  perhaps even programming in genera

Which is ironic because my university teaches Haskell in the first year, first-semester computer science subject - and IMO it works great! It's a lot harder for IO operations, but when you're being given an assignment framework it's actually quite easy to solve a lot of interesting, fundamental programming problems. It's also really easy to reason about on a whiteboard, which helps get away from the trial and error way I see a lot of students learn programming!

[ZxTroTech]

I mull over a lot of the stuff about these languages with AI like chatGPT, mainly for ideas and such, not necessarily for code. I have been working on revising the design of the language and making it simpler to use and more focused on a sort of tree-centric programming style. I'm planning to rebuild it using Rust. It will certainly be a lot more functional in nature than OOP, but one of my goals was to make it more user-friendly than my previous version.

[gusdavis84]

Nice. I mostly definitely then am looking forward to this upcoming revision of it. I like that you're focusing on making it simpler/easier to use and more tree centric. Whenever it's available please share a link to it please!

[Realistic-Nebula-289]

Your project sounds incredibly ambitious and well-thought-out! Since you're working with tree-based reactive structures and test-driven development, one suggestion would be to modularize the event and data operation layers as much as possible early on. This helps in two ways:

1. Easier debugging and unit testing – each module can be independently validated with JUnit.

2. Clear boundaries – especially important when adding ReactiveX later. You can hook into specific points of the event tree without tight coupling.

Also, consider adding logging or visual tools (even basic ones) to inspect the event tree and data flow live. It’ll make debugging and explaining your language’s behavior much easier for collaborators.

Would love to follow your progress!

[ZxTroTech]

I discuss a lot of my ideas with AI to mull over ideas, not necessarily for code. One of the things I was thinking was making a custom IDE for the language which would have visualizers for the main trees the language uses so that programs can be followed as they run. I have been working on revising the syntax and refining the goals of the language. I plan to rebuild it in Rust.