defer runs when its scope ends and before return, break and continue leave it,
newest first, and sees only the variables declared before it. Not allowed
inside a defer: defer, return, break, continue.
boot.sh: 14 passed, 0 failed, 8 skipped.
Methods are functions whose first parameter is the receiver's address; a method
that changes self can't be called on a temporary or a read-only value, and
calling one on a variable keeps a parameter from being borrowed. An argument
that lives inside the receiver is copied (c.merge(c)). str(x) and print of
arrays and structs go through one formatter, as in the C++ compiler.
boot.sh: 12 passed, 0 failed, 10 skipped.
The self-hosted compiler now has the numeric types the C++ one has: int and
float stay the i64 and f64 defaults, the others lower to their LLVM sizes;
literals adapt to the other operand if they fit, smaller types widen into
bigger ones, signed and unsigned mixing is refused, division and shifts and
comparisons pick their signedness, and u8(x), f32(x), bool(x) convert.
boot.sh: 11 passed, 0 failed, 10 skipped (was 9 / 12).
- fn Struct.method(...) with self by reference, also on C structs
- map[K]V: insertion-ordered hash maps, literals, m[k] += 1, has/get/remove/keys/values
- -> T! / -> !, return error(...), or <value>, or { err }, try; fallible int/float/read_file/write_file/delete_file
- for i, x in list / for k, v in map
- print and str() share one text formatter
- LSP: method and map completion, method signatures; grammar and snippets for VS Code and Kate
- tests: 74 (methods, errors, maps + 11 failure cases); docs at all three levels, en and pl
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- examples/opengl.fch: OpenGL 3.3 core, shaders, VAO/VBO, a spinning triangle (checked offscreen)
- examples/vulkan.fch: instance, GPUs with properties/memory/queues, logical device and queue
- ptr(n) and int(p) conversions for C APIs that pass offsets as pointers
- .ptr works on string literals; a comma after the last call argument is allowed
- a missing header included by an imported header is now named in the error
- the old .fn extension hint is gone (Finch is new, there are no old files)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
.fn is already used by other tools (e.g. Fennel). Modules are now looked up as name.fch;
a leftover name.fn gets a clear message telling you to rename it.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
boot/ is a second Finch compiler written in Finch (lexer, parser, type checker and
an LLVM IR text generator, ~3k lines). Built by the C++ compiler it compiles itself;
stage 2 and stage 3 produce byte-identical IR. It covers the core language: functions,
structs, arrays, str, pointers, loops and modules (no C imports, sized numbers or defer),
copies values like the main compiler and leaves freeing memory to the operating system.
tests/boot.sh checks the fixpoint and runs the test programs it supports.
Also: shell(cmd) built-in.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
- struct with default values; constructors Point(1, 2) / Point(x: 1); field access, auto-deref through pointers
- []T arrays with bounds checks, literals, for-each, push/pop/insert/remove/clear/resize/find/contains/join/slice/reverse/sort
- str carries its length: .len, s[i], +, comparison, sub/find/split/trim/upper/lower/replace/repeat/bytes, str(x), int(s), float(s)
- Memory: values own their memory and are freed at the end of their block; assignment copies, temporaries move;
parameters are lent and only copied when the function changes them; defer; new()/free() for manual heap memory
- input(), read_file/write_file/file_exists, exit(), fn main([]str args)
- Finch modules: import name, module.fn(), module.Struct
- C structs from headers (fields, fixed arrays, nested); passed and returned by value with the System V x86-64 ABI;
addr(fn) gives C a callback
- link "file.c" compiles and links your own C code
- -g emits DWARF debug info (gdb/lldb)
- Small C runtime (runtime/finch_rt.c) embedded in the compiler, cached in ~/.cache/finch
- Tests: 58, all clean under valgrind (MEMCHECK=1 tests/run.sh)
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
A small, fast programming language on LLVM with C-like syntax.
- Lexer, recursive-descent parser, single-pass type checker + LLVM IR codegen, O2 pipeline
- Types: int/float/bool/char/str, sized i8..u64/f32/f64, pointers ptr[T] with addr()/.value/null
- Functions (fn ... -> T), if/else, while, for..in, break/continue, Go-style operator precedence
- Implicit conversions only when lossless; literals adapt to their target type
- Runtime checks for division by zero, MIN/-1 and null .value
- C interop: import "header.h" via libclang, link "lib" with pkg-config, link-error advice
- Human-readable errors with source excerpts
- Test suite (34 tests), examples, docs for beginners/technicians/engineers in English and Polish
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>