ba08e487cb
Since it is not any better by default without initializing the key, we disable it by default. It can be turned on with JANET_PRF in janetconf.h. |
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.builds | ||
assets | ||
examples | ||
src | ||
test | ||
tools | ||
.gitattributes | ||
.gitignore | ||
.travis.yml | ||
appveyor.yml | ||
build_win.bat | ||
CHANGELOG.md | ||
CONTRIBUTING.md | ||
janet_win.rc | ||
janet.1 | ||
jpm | ||
jpm.1 | ||
LICENSE | ||
Makefile | ||
meson_options.txt | ||
meson.build | ||
README.md |
Janet is a functional and imperative programming language and bytecode interpreter. It is a lisp-like language, but lists are replaced by other data structures (arrays, tables (hash table), struct (immutable hash table), tuples). The language also supports bridging to native code written in C, meta-programming with macros, and bytecode assembly.
There is a repl for trying out the language, as well as the ability to run script files. This client program is separate from the core runtime, so Janet can be embedded into other programs. Try Janet in your browser at https://janet-lang.org.
Use Cases
Janet makes a good system scripting language, or a language to embed in other programs. It's like Lua and Guile in that regard. It has more built-in functionality and a richer core language than Lua, but smaller than GNU Guile or Python.
Features
- Minimal setup - one binary and you are good to go!
- First class closures
- Garbage collection
- First class green threads (continuations)
- Python style generators (implemented as a plain macro)
- Mutable and immutable arrays (array/tuple)
- Mutable and immutable hashtables (table/struct)
- Mutable and immutable strings (buffer/string)
- Macros
- Byte code interpreter with an assembly interface, as well as bytecode verification
- Tailcall Optimization
- Direct interop with C via abstract types and C functions
- Dynamically load C libraries
- Functional and imperative standard library
- Lexical scoping
- Imperative programming as well as functional
- REPL
- Parsing Expression Grammars built in to the core library
- 400+ functions and macros in the core library
- Embedding Janet in other programs
- Interactive environment with detailed stack traces
Documentation
- For a quick tutorial, see the introduction for more details.
- For the full API for all functions in the core library, see the core API doc
Documentation is also available locally in the repl.
Use the (doc symbol-name)
macro to get API
documentation for symbols in the core library. For example,
(doc doc)
Shows documentation for the doc macro.
To get a list of all bindings in the default
environment, use the (all-bindings)
function. You
can also use the (doc)
macro with no arguments if you are in the repl
to show bound symbols.
Source
You can get the source on GitHub or SourceHut. While the GitHub repo is the official repo, the SourceHut mirror is actively maintained.
Building
macOS and Unix-like
The Makefile is non-portable and requires GNU-flavored make.
cd somewhere/my/projects/janet
make
make test
make repl
Find out more about the available make targets by running make help
.
32-bit Haiku
32-bit Haiku build instructions are the same as the unix-like build instructions,
but you need to specify an alternative compiler, such as gcc-x86
.
cd somewhere/my/projects/janet
make CC=gcc-x86
make test
make repl
FreeBSD
FreeBSD build instructions are the same as the unix-like build instuctions,
but you need gmake
to compile. Alternatively, install directly from
packages, using pkg install lang/janet
.
cd somewhere/my/projects/janet
gmake
gmake test
gmake repl
Windows
- Install Visual Studio or Visual Studio Build Tools
- Run a Visual Studio Command Prompt (cl.exe and link.exe need to be on the PATH) and cd to the directory with janet.
- Run
build_win
to compile janet. - Run
build_win test
to make sure everything is working.
To build an .msi
installer executable, in addition to the above steps, you will have to:
- Install, or otherwise add to your PATH the WiX 3.11 Toolset
- run
build_win dist
Now you should have an .msi
. You can run build_win install
to install the .msi
, or execute the file itself.
Meson
Janet also has a build file for Meson, a cross platform build system. Although Meson has a python dependency, Meson is a very complete build system that is maybe more convenient and flexible for integrating into existing pipelines. Meson also provides much better IDE integration than Make or batch files, as well as support for cross compilation.
For the impatient, building with Meson is as follows. The options provided to
meson setup
below emulate Janet's Makefile.
git clone https://github.com/janet-lang/janet.git
cd janet
meson setup build \
--buildtype release \
--optimization 2 \
--libdir /usr/local/lib \
-Dgit_hash=$(git log --pretty=format:'%h' -n 1)
ninja -C build
# Run the binary
build/janet
# Installation
ninja -C build install
Development
Janet can be hacked on with pretty much any environment you like, but for IDE lovers, Gnome Builder is probably the best option, as it has excellent meson integration. It also offers code completion for Janet's C API right out of the box, which is very useful for exploring. VSCode, Vim, Emacs, and Atom will have syntax packages for the Janet language, though.
Installation
See the Introduction for more details. If you just want
to try out the language, you don't need to install anything. You can also move the janet
executable wherever you want on your system and run it.
Usage
A repl is launched when the binary is invoked with no arguments. Pass the -h flag
to display the usage information. Individual scripts can be run with ./janet myscript.janet
If you are looking to explore, you can print a list of all available macros, functions, and constants
by entering the command (all-bindings)
into the repl.
$ janet
Janet 1.7.1-dev-951e10f Copyright (C) 2017-2020 Calvin Rose
janet:1:> (+ 1 2 3)
6
janet:2:> (print "Hello, World!")
Hello, World!
nil
janet:3:> (os/exit)
$ janet -h
usage: build/janet [options] script args...
Options are:
-h : Show this help
-v : Print the version string
-s : Use raw stdin instead of getline like functionality
-e code : Execute a string of janet
-r : Enter the repl after running all scripts
-p : Keep on executing if there is a top level error (persistent)
-q : Hide prompt, logo, and repl output (quiet)
-k : Compile scripts but do not execute (flycheck)
-m syspath : Set system path for loading global modules
-c source output : Compile janet source code into an image
-n : Disable ANSI color output in the repl
-l path : Execute code in a file before running the main script
-- : Stop handling options
If installed, you can also run man janet
and man jpm
to get usage information.
Embedding
Janet can be embedded in a host program very easily. The normal build
will create a file build/janet.c
, which is a single C file
that contains all the source to Janet. This file, along with
src/include/janet.h
and src/conf/janetconf.h
can be dragged into any C
project and compiled into the project. Janet should be compiled with -std=c99
on most compilers, and will need to be linked to the math library, -lm
, and
the dynamic linker, -ldl
, if one wants to be able to load dynamic modules. If
there is no need for dynamic modules, add the define
-DJANET_NO_DYNAMIC_MODULES
to the compiler options.
See the Embedding Section on the website for more information.
Examples
See the examples directory for some example janet code.
Discussion
Feel free to ask questions and join discussion on the Janet Gitter Channel. Alternatively, check out the #janet channel on Freenode
FAQ
Why is my terminal spitting out junk when I run the repl?
Make sure your terminal supports ANSI escape codes. Most modern terminals will
support these, but some older terminals, Windows consoles, or embedded terminals
will not. If your terminal does not support ANSI escape codes, run the repl with
the -n
flag, which disables color output. You can also try the -s
if further issues
ensue.
Why Janet
Janet is named after the almost omniscient and friendly artificial being in The Good Place.