brolang/LANGUAGE.md

language features

IMPLEMENTED

source and declarations

• newline-terminated statements and # comments
• immutable :: bindings, mutable function-local = bindings, and _ sinks
• immutable and mutable locals
• package-level globals and functions
• interned identifiers

types and expressions

• i8, i16, i32, i64, void, and inferred integer-constrained int
• contextual integer literals and constant folding of addition trees
• checked signed integer addition
• function calls, assignments, and returns

functions and packages

• demand-monomorphized functions
• bodyful c func definitions using the c calling convention
• bodyless c func declarations with exact, globally unique external symbol names
• concrete-only foreign signatures
• directory packages with merged declarations
• file-local relative imports, aliases, and qualified member access

compiler behavior

• error-tolerant compilation with runtime diagnostic traps
• lazy semantic checking of demanded function specializations
• demand-driven LLVM declarations for referenced foreign functions
• ordered linking of additional c sources, objects, and libraries
• static, eager runtime, and deferred problematic globals

PLANNED

foreign functions and linking

• c variadic calls with default argument promotions
• exporting brolang functions to c

scalar and compound types

• unsigned integers, floats, characters, and target-dependent c scalar types
• arrays [N]T and sentinel arrays [N; S]T
• single-item pointers @T and many-item pointers *T
• element and pointee mutability through mut, separate from binding mutability
• slices []T and sentinel slices [; S]T
• string literals as immutable sentinel slices backed by static arrays
• character literals
• optionals with trapping ? unwrap, orelse fallback, and nullable pointers
• data-only native structs and target-layout c struct types
• tuples and native variadic functions

c imports

• c headers imported as synthetic package namespaces
• typedefs, enums, opaque records, and external variables
• function pointers, callbacks, macros, and static inline functions
• target-specific by-value c record and union ABI lowering