ait-lang

Ait

Ait or Aisteach (ie) - Strange, unusual, curious, weird, funny

Programming language for visual and creative experiments on the web. Heavily influenced by the Forth-family of languages.

The language and runtime is still in a very experimental state.

Installation

Requirements: Node v6 or above

Recommended approach

Install with npm npm install [-g] ait-lang, use -g if you want to add it as a global executable.

Build from source

Clone repo and run npm i && npm run build and an executable should appear in ait-lang/bin.

Usage

After installing (or building from source) you can use ait-lang to interpret your .ait-files like this:

> ait-lang source.ait

Browser

You can also run ait-lang in your browser. It involves a bit more setting up (this is still a work in progress):

const fs = require('fs');
 
const Browser = require('ait-lang/runtimes/browser');
const src = fs.readFileSync('YOUR SOURCE HERE', 'utf8');
 
const runtime = Browser();
// Load some liberaries
Object.assign(runtime.lexicon, require('ait-canvas'));
Object.assign(runtime.lexicon, require('ait-dom'));
 
runtime.evaluate(src);
 
// Grab the canvas from the runtime
// It's a bit roundabout, working on a better solution
document.body.appendChild(runtime.scope['__aitCanvasContext'].body.canvas);

Examples

The Ait Playground has some examples you could follow. It also has some examples of usage in the browser.

Syntax and semantics

TODO

Standard Library

These are the words currently shipping with the ait-lang-runtime.

Math

The normal operators found in JavaScript works as words in Ait: +, -, *, /. % exists as mod and unary - exists as neg.

Most of the methods and constants normally found on Math in JavaScript exist in Ait: PI, E, random, abs, max, min, sqrt, cbrt, pow, floor, ceil, round, exp, sign, log, log10, cos, acos, cosh, acosh, sin, asin, sinh, asinh, tan, atan, atan2, tanh, atanh.

In addition some helper words have been added:

random2

lower upper random2

Generates a random float between lower and upper.

succ

n succ

Generates the successor to n. Equivalent to n 1 +.

pred

n pred

Generates the predecessor to n. Equivalent to n 1 -.

Logic

>

a b >

true if a is greater than b, false otherwise.

Desc

<

a b <

true if a is smaller than b, false otherwise.

Desc

=

a b =

true if a is equal to b, false otherwise. This uses === in JavaScript to determine equality.

Desc

!=

a b !=

true if a is not equal to b, false otherwise. This uses !== in JavaScript to determine equality.

Desc

>=

a b >

true if a is greater than or equal to b, false otherwise.

Desc

<=

a b >

true if a is smaller than or equal to b, false otherwise.

Desc

||

a b ||

true if a or b is true, false otherwise.

Works the same way as JavaScripts || in that it will coerce operands to boolean values before comparing.

Desc

&&

a b &&

true if a and b is true, false otherwise.

Works the same way as JavaScripts && in that it will coerce operands to boolean values before comparing.

Desc

small

[aggr] small or n small

true if aggregate aggr has 0 or 1 elements or if n is a small number (-1, 0 or 1).

Desc

zero

[aggr] zero or n zero

true if aggregate aggr has 0 element or if n is the number 0.

String manipulation

Words for manipulating strings.

This module is unstable.

replace

"string" "replacement" replace

Replaces the first %ss in the string "string" with replacement "replacement".

Example

"%s extra" "nothing" replace

Resulting in "nothing extra" being left on the stack.

replace2

"string" "replacement" replace2

Replaces the two first %ss in the string "string" with replacement "replacement".

replace3

"string" "replacement" replace3

Replaces the three first %ss in the string "string" with replacement "replacement".

Stack shufflers

.

a .

Pops the top element off the stack and prints it to stdout.

dup

a dup

Duplicates the top element of the stack

dupd

a b dupd

dip'ed version of dup. Short-hand for a b [dup] dip.

pop

a pop

Pops the top element off the stack.

popd

a b popd

dip'ed version of pop. Short-hand for a b [pop] dip.

swap

a b swap

Swaps the top two elements of the stack.

swapd

a b c swapd

dip'ed version of swap. Short-hand for a b c [swap] dip.

rollup

a b c rollup

Rolls the 3rd element of the stack up to the top of the stack.

Example

1 2 3 rollup

Results in the stack looking like this: 2 3 1.

rollupd

a b c d rollupd

dip'ed version of rollup. Short-hand for a b c d [rollup] dip.

rolldown

a b c rolldown

Rolls the 1st element of the stack up down 2 slots.

Example

1 2 3 rolldown

Results in the stack looking like this: 3 1 2.

rolldownd

a b c d rolldownd

dip'ed version of rolldown. Short-hand for a b c d [rolldown] dip.

rotate

a b c rotate

Rotates the 1st and 3rd element of the stack.

Example

1 2 3 rotate

Results in the stack looking like this: 3 2 1.

rotated

a b c d rotated

dip'ed version of rotate. Short-hand for a b c d [rotate] dip.

stack

stack

Pushes a copy of the current stack onto the stack.

unstack

[aggr] unstack

Replaces the current stack with aggregate aggr.

Quotations

Words for working with quotations

exec

[quot] exec

Executes quotation quot.

Example

[1 1 +] exec

Results in 2 being left on the stack.

nullary

[quot] nullary

Executes quotation quot with arity 0. Reading as many elements of the stack as it needs, but does not consume any.

Example

1 1 [+] nullary

Results in 1 1 2 being left on the stack.

unary

[quot] unary

Executes quotation quot with arity 1. Reading as many elements of the stack as it needs, but only consumes 1.

Example

1 1 [+] unary

Results in 1 2 being left on the stack.

binary

[quot] binary

Executes quotation quot with arity 2. Reading as many elements of the stack as it needs, but only consumes 2.

Example

1 1 [+] unary

Results in 2 being left on the stack.

ternary

[quot] ternary

Executes quotation quot with arity 3. Reading as many elements of the stack as it needs, but only consumes 3.

Example

1 2 3 4 [ + + + ] ternary

Resulting in 1 10 being left on the stack.

dip

[quot] dip

Takes the top element of the stack, executes quotation quot and puts top element back on the stack.

Example

1 2 3 [+] dip

Results in 3 3 being left on the stack.

cleave

el [qout1] [qout2] cleave

Executes quotations quot1 and quot2 each with element el as the top of the stack.

Example

1 [1 +] [2 +]

Resulting in 2 3 being left on the stack.

Aggregates

Words for working with aggregates

cons

el [aggr] cons

Conses el onto aggregate aggr.

Example

1 0 [] cons cons

Constructs a two-element vector from 0 and 1, resulting in [1 0] being left on the stack.

swons

[aggr] el swons

Short-hand for [aggr] el swap cons.

append

el [aggr] append

Appends el at the end of aggregate aggr.

Example

0 [1] append

Appends 0 at the end of [1] resulting in [1 0] being left on the stack.

swappend

[aggr] el swappend

Short-hand for [aggr] el swap append.

uncons

[aggr] uncons

Unconses the first element of aggregate aggr, leaving el and aggr on the stack.

Example

[1 0] uncons

Unconses 1 from [1 0] leaving the stack with 1 [0].

unswons

[aggr] unswons

Short-hand for [aggr] uncons swap. Leaves result of uncons on the stack in the reverse order.

Example

[1 0] unswons

Unconses 1 from [1 0] leaving the stack with [0] 1.

concat

[aggr1] [aggr2] concat

Concats two aggregates. Follows the rules of Array.prototype.concat in JavaScript.

Example

[0] [1] concat

Concats aggregate [0] and aggregate [1] resulting in [0 1] being left on the stack.

enconcat

el [aggr1] [aggr2] enconcat

Concats aggregates aggr1 and aggr2 with el in between.

Example

1 [0] [2] enconcat

Concats aggregates [0] and [2] with 1 in between, resulting in [0 1 2] being left on the stack.

first

[aggr] first

Gets the first element of aggregate aggr.

Example

[0 1 2] first

Leaves 0 on the stack.

last

[aggr] last

Gets the last element of aggregate aggr.

Example

[0 1 2] last

Leaves 2 on the stack.

rest

[aggr] rest

Drops the first element and gives you the rest of aggreate aggr.

Example

[0 1 2] rest

Leaves [1 2] on the stack.

of

i [aggr] of

Gets the element of aggregate aggr at index i. Equivalent to i [aggr] swap at.

Example

1 [0 1 2] of

Leaves 1 on the stack.

at

[aggr] i at

Gets the element at index i of aggregate aggr. Equivalent to [aggr] i swap of.

Example

[0 1 2] 1 at

Leaves 1 on the stack.

ins

el [aggr] i ins

Inserts el in aggregate aggr at index i. Follows the rules of assigning to index in JavaScript, meaning you can get sparse aggregates.

Example

3 [0 1] 1 ins

Inserts 3 into [0 1] at index 1 resulting in [0 3] being left on the stack.

size

[aggr] size

Gets the size or length of aggregate aggr.

Example

[0 1 2] size

Leaves 3 on the stack.

drop

[aggr] n drop

Drops the n first elements of aggregate [aggr].

Example

[0 1 2] 1 drop

Leaves [1 2] on the stack.

take

[aggr] n take

Takes the n first elements of aggregate [aggr].

Example

[0 1 2] 2 take

Leaves [0 1] on the stack.

step

[aggr] [s] step

Executes quotation s with arity 1 once for every element of aggregate aggr. Quotation s has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3] [ 1 + ] step

Results in 2 3 4 being left on the stack.

map

[aggr] [mapper] map

Executes quotation mapper with arity 1 producing a new element for each element in aggregate aggr.

Quotation mapper has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3] [ 1 + ] map

Results in [2 3 4] being left on the stack.

map2

[aggr1] [aggr2] [mapper] map2

Executes quotation mapper with arity 2 producing a new element for each element in aggregate aggr1 and aggr2. Aggregate aggr1 must have an equal or greater number of elements than aggregate aggr2.

Quotation mapper has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, _a1, which is the first aggregate, and _a2 which is the second aggregate.

Example

[2 4 6] [1 2 3] [ / ] map2

Results in [2 2 2] being left on the stack.

fold

[aggr] v0 [folder] fold

Executes quotation folder with arity 2 producing a new value for each element in aggregate aggr with v0 as the initial value.

Quotation folder has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3] 0 [ + ] fold

Results in 6 being left on the stack.

sort

[aggr] sort

Sorts the aggregate aggr in place using numerical comparison.

Example

[3 1 2] sort

Results in [1 2 3] being left on the stack.

sortBy

[aggr] index sortBy

Sorts aggregate aggr in place using numerical comparison on index of each element.

Example

[[1 3] [3 2] [2 1]] 1 sortBy

Results in [[2 1] [3 2] [1 3]] being left on the stack.

filter

[aggr] [test] filter

Filters the aggregate aggr by executing test with arity 1 for each element in aggregate.

Quotation test has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3 4 5 6] [2 mod 0 =] filter

Results in [2 4 6] being left on the stack.

split

[aggr] [test] split

Splits aggregate aggr into two aggregates according to the result of executing test for each element.

Quotation test has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3 4 5 6] [3 <] split

Results in [1 2] [3 4 5 6] being left on the stack.

some

[aggr] [test] some

Executes quotation test with arity 1 for each element in aggregate aggr and yields true if atleast one element passes the test.

Quotation test has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3 4 5] [3 =] some

Results in true being left on the stack.

all

[aggr] [test] all

Executes quotation test with arity 1 for each element in aggregate aggr and yields true if all elements passes the test.

Quotation test has access to the variables _i, which is the index of the current step, and _a which is the aggregate.

Example

[1 2 3 4 5] [3 =] all

Results in false being left on the stack.

Control flow

Words for managing control flow.

cond

test [quote]

Executes quote if test is true.

Example

0 10 random2 5 < ['less than five']

Tells if a random number between 0 and 10 is lower than 5.

branch

test [t] [f]

Executes t if test is true or f if test is false.

Example

0 10 random2 5 < ['less than five'] ['bigger than or equal to five'] ifte

Tells if a random number between 0 and 10 is lower or higher than 5.

ifte

[test] [t] [f] ifte

Executes test with arity 0 to produce a boolean. Executes t if boolean is true or f if boolean is false.

Works like branch except that test can be a quotation.

Example

0 10 random2 [5 <] ['less than five'] ['bigger than or equal to five'] ifte

Tells if a random number between 0 and 10 is lower or higher than 5.

Iteration

Words for doing iterations and other looping.

while

[ test ] [ step ] while

Executes test with arity 0 to yield a boolean. Executes step if boolean is true.

Example

0
[ 10 < ]
[ 1 + ]
while

Will count up from 0 to 9 and stop, leaving 9 on the stack.

times

count [ step ] times

Executes step count times.

Inside step you will have access to the _i-variable, which has the value of the current step.

Example

0 10 [ 1 + ] times

Will add 1 to the top of the stack 10 times, leaving 10 on top of the stack.

Recursion

Words for doing anonymous recursion

linrec

[ test ] [ done ] [ generate ] [ collect ] linrec

linrec takes 4 quotations off the stack and preforms linear recursion:

• test is executed with arity 0 to yield a boolean.
• done is executed if test yields true.
• generate is executed if test yields false and will continue the recursion with whatever generate leaves on the stack.
• collect is executed after the recursion-step is done.

Example

7 [ zero ] [ succ ] [ dup pred ] [ * ] linrec .

Will compute the factorial of 7, which is 5040.

tailrec

[ test ] [ done ] [ step ] tailrec

tailrec takes 3 quotations off the stack and preforms tail recursion:

• test is executed with arity 0 to yield a boolean.
• done is executed if test yields true.
• step is executed if test yields false and will continue the recursion with whatever generate leaves on the stack.

Example

0 [1 2 3 4 5] [zero] [ pop ] [ uncons [+] dip ] tailrec .

Will do a tail recursive sum of the elements in an aggregate.

binrec

[ test ] [ done ] [ generate ] [ collect ] binrec

binrec takes 4 quotations off the stack and preforms linear recursion:

• test is executed with arity 0 to yield a boolean.
• done is executed if test yields true.
• generate is executed if test yields false and will produce 2 values. Binrec then recurses twice with each value on the top of the stack.
• collect is executed after the recursion-step is done.

Example

[2 4 6 8 1 3 5 7 9] [ small ] [] [ uncons [>] split ] [ enconcat ] binrec .

Will preform quicksort on the aggregate.