hophop is small programming language in the C/Go family. The reference compiler is written in strict C11 and can run programs through an evaluator, generate WASM modules and generate freestanding C code of a hophop package.
Source on GitHub
Language specification [md]
fn main() {
greetings := [
"Hej världen!"
"Hello, world!"
"¡Hola Mundo!"
"Γειά σου Κόσμε!"
"Привіт, світе!"
"こんにちは世界！"
]
for greeting in greetings {
print(greeting)
}
}
Run it directly:
$ hophop run hello.hop
hej världen
Compile to wasm:
$ hophop genpkg:wasm hello.hop hello.wasm
These sections are ordered from high-impact, small ideas to lower-level and more specialized features.
Functions are declared with fn. A definition has a body, while a declaration can omit the body when another package or backend provides the implementation. Programs run from fn main() with no parameters and no return type.
Parameters use name-then-type order, and a single return type follows the parameter list. Calls use ordinary expression syntax.
fn add(a, b i32) i32 {
return a + b
}
fn main() {
print("sum")
add(1, 2)
}
HopHop uses uniform function call syntax to support expr.function() calls without special syntax or a distinction between functions and methods.
struct Vec2 {
x, y f64
}
fn mul(v Vec2, exp f64) Vec2 {
return { x: v.x*exp, y: v.y*v.y }
}
fn main() {
var v = Vec2{ x: 3.0, y: 4.0 }
assert mul(v, exp: 4.3) == v.mul(4.3)
}
HopHop accepts // line comments and /* ... */ block comments. Block comments may nest, which makes it possible to comment out code that already contains block comments.
Most semicolons are inserted from newlines, so ordinary code is written one statement per line.
fn main() {
// line comment
/* outer
/* nested */
outer */
print("comments")
}
Literals include numbers, strings, runes, booleans and null, structs and arrays.
Rune literals use single quotes and represent one Unicode codepoint.
null is only assignable where the type explicitly accepts it, such as optionals and rawptr.
n := 42
hex := 0xff
pi := 3.14
msg := "hello\n"
raw := `hello\n`
letter := 'å'
ok := true
array := [1, 2, 3]
var creates mutable local storage. const creates a compile-time value and must have an initializer.
The type can be written explicitly or inferred from the initializer. var x T zero-initializes most types, while direct pointer and reference locals must be assigned before use.
fn main() {
const limit = 10
var count = 0
var total i32 = 0
var ready bool
}
:= is local short-assignment syntax. It assigns to an existing local when one exists, otherwise it declares a new mutable local inferred from the right-hand side.
Regular assignment uses =, compound assignment uses operators such as +=, and multi-assignment evaluates right-hand sides before storing left-to-right.
fn main() {
x := 1
x += 2
y, z := 3, 4
y, z = z, y
}
Names are block scoped, and the nearest declaration wins. The _ name is a discard hole: it accepts a value without creating or updating a binding.
Top-level declarations are collected before function bodies are checked, so functions can call declarations that appear later in the file.
fn main() {
var x = 1
{
var x = 2
var _, y = x, 3
assert y == 3
}
assert x == 1
}
Built-in types include bool, fixed-width integers, pointer-sized int and uint, f32, f64, rawptr and type. Text uses str, and rune is a Unicode codepoint.
Constant numeric expressions use const_int and const_float until they are assigned or cast to concrete numeric types.
fn main() {
var signed i32 = -1
var size uint = 10
var text &str = "hej"
var r rune = 'h'
var p rawptr = null
}
HopHop has the usual arithmetic, bitwise, relational and logical operators. Assignment is an expression form, but the left side must be assignable.
Numeric conversions between concrete types are explicit. Casts use as, and pointer/reference casts through rawptr are the explicit low-level escape hatch.
fn main() {
var a i32 = 10
var b i64 = a as i64
var ok = a > 0 && b < 100
var p = null as rawptr
}
if conditions takes a bool conditional expression and splits execution into two branches
fn greet(name ?&str) {
if name {
print(name)
} else {
print("anonymous")
}
}
When an "optional" value (?T) is used as the condition, its effective type is narrowed inside the branches. A non-null branch sees the payload type, while the null branch sees the null case.
for supports infinite loops, condition loops, C-style loops and for ... in iteration. break exits a loop or switch, and continue starts the next loop iteration.
The for ... in form can bind values, key/value pairs or discard values with _.
fn count(items &[i32]) i32 {
var total = 0
for i, value in items {
total += i + value
}
return total
}
switch supports expression switches and condition switches. Cases are tested left-to-right, there is no fallthrough, and finite domains such as bool and enums must be exhaustive unless default is present.
Enum payload variants can be narrowed by switching on the enum value.
fn classify(n i32) str {
switch {
case n < 0 { return "negative" }
case n == 0 { return "zero" }
default { return "positive" }
}
}
assert checks a condition and traps if it fails. panic traps with a message and returns no value.
defer schedules a statement or block to run when the current scope exits through structured control flow such as fallthrough, return, break or continue.
fn use_value(x i32) {
defer print("leaving")
assert x >= 0, "expected non-negative"
if x == 0 {
panic("zero")
}
}
Arrays have fixed length in the type. Slices are unsized views and must be used through pointer or reference forms when passed around.
len reports the length of strings, arrays and slices. Indexing and slicing use bracket syntax, and copy(dst, src) copies sequence elements.
fn first(xs &[i32]) i32 {
assert len(xs) > 0
return xs[0]
}
fn prefix(xs &[i32]) &[i32] {
return xs[0:2]
}
*T is writable reference-like access to T.
&T is read-only reference-like access.
The address-of operator & forms a read-only reference, and unary * dereferences a pointer or reference. Slice mutability follows the wrapper: *[T] is writable, while &[T] is read-only.
fn read(x &i32) i32 {
return *x
}
fn set(x *i32, value i32) {
*x = value
}
?T represents either a T or null.
A plain T can lift into ?T, but an optional does not implicitly convert back to T.
Use control-flow narrowing for ordinary code and postfix ! when an explicit runtime null trap is intended.
fn length(s ?str) int {
if s == null {
return 0
}
return len(s)
}
struct groups named fields, and union stores one of several field layouts in the same storage. Fields can have defaults, and omitted struct fields are initialized from defaults or zero values.
Unions may initialize at most one field explicitly.
struct Point {
x i32 = 0
y i32 = 0
}
union Word {
i i32
u u32
}
Enums have an integer base type, and enum items are scoped under the enum type. Plain enum values are selected as Name.Item.
Variants may carry payload fields. Payload constructors use compound-literal syntax, and switches can narrow payload variants for field access.
enum Result i32 {
Ok{
value i32
}
Err{
code i32
}
}
fn read(r Result) i32 {
switch r {
case Result.Ok as ok { return ok.value }
case Result.Err { return 0 }
}
}
Compound literals use named fields. A literal may name its type, or it may be inferred from an expected aggregate type.
Field names can be dotted for nested initialization. Explicit initializers override defaults for the initialized path.
struct Size {
w i32
h i32
}
fn main() {
var size = Size{ w: 640, h: 480 }
var same Size = { w: 640, h: 480 }
}
type Name T declares a distinct named type with T as its base. Assignment can implicitly peel from the alias to the target, but not from the target back to the alias.
Type names and value names live in separate namespaces, so a type and a function can share a spelling when their uses are unambiguous.
type UserId u64
fn raw(id UserId) u64 {
return id
}
A package is a file or directory; there is no package keyword. Imports appear before top-level declarations.
pub exports a top-level declaration. Imports can use the default alias, an explicit alias, a side-effect-only _ alias or named symbol imports.
import "log" { Logger }
import "math" as m
pub fn area(r f64) f64 {
return m.pi * r * r
}
Functions may be overloaded by signature. Overload resolution ranks conversion costs deterministically and reports an ambiguity when there is no single best match.
For calls only, recv.f(args...) can resolve as f(recv, args...). Real fields take precedence over selector-call sugar.
struct Cat {
score int
}
struct Dog {
score int
}
fn pick(v Cat) int {
return v.score
}
fn pick(v Dog) int {
return v.score
}
fn main() {
cat := Cat{ score: 9 }
dog := Dog{ score: 4 }
assert pick(cat) == 9
assert dog.pick() == 4
}
Tuple types and tuple-style result clauses represent multiple values. Functions with tuple returns must return one value per position.
fn apply(f fn(i32) i32, x i32) i32 {
return f(x)
}
fn divmod(a, b i32) (i32, i32) {
return a / b, a % b
}
HopHop is a manual memory-management language.
You control allocations and deallocations with new and del.
new T allocates memory, returning *T.
new [T n] allocates an array of type *[T] (dynamically sized) or *[T n],
depending on the receiver type and if n can be computed at compile time or not.
fn make_count() *i32 {
var p = new i32
*p = 1
return p
}
fn release(p *i32) {
del p
}
new and del uses an allocator defined by context.allocator by default, and allows specifying an explicit allocator with in, e.g. v := new [i32 3] in my_allocator.
Unlike languages like C and Go, in hophop *T cannot be null. Instead, ?*T [optional] must be used when something may be null (and checked before use.)
fn example(never_null *int, may_be_null ?*int) {
if may_be_null {
// type automatically narrowed in positive branch
assert typeof(may_be_null) == *int
}
}
str is UTF-8 text, and most string operations are byte-oriented.
fn main() {
name := "hello" // type is &str
print(msg)
}
str is a specialized type of [u8] that guarantees that its contents is valid UTF-8 text. An expression of type &str can be used wherever a value of type &[u8] or &str is needed, and an expression of type *str can be used as *str, &str, *[u8] and &[u8]. However, an expression of type &[u8] or *[u8] cannot be used as &str or *str without explicit cast. An explicit cast from &[u8] or *[u8] to &str or *str is the only way by which you can "break" the guarantee of a string containing valid UTF-8 data.
Structs, unions, enums, type aliases and functions may declare type parameters with brackets after the declaration name. Type parameters are compile-time values of metatype type.
Named generic types are instantiated in type positions with type arguments. Generic function calls infer type arguments from ordinary arguments.
struct Box[T] {
value T
}
fn get[T](box Box[T]) T {
return box.value
}
Types can be treated as values. For example i32.kind() or assert i64 != u32. The "type" of a type is type, which together with compile-time evaluation allows declaring functions that take types as arguments and/or produces types.
The type expr syntax can be used in non-type contexts where syntax would otherwise be ambiguous, for example &T means "make a reference to expression T" in a value grammar position, while in a type position it means "reference type with base T". type T disambiguates to always mean "the type T".
typeof(x) returns the type of an expression.
Reflection helpers such as kind, base, is_alias, type_name, ptr, slice and array operate on type values.
fn main() {
const T = type &[i32]
const U = typeof(123)
const P = ptr(U)
}
A final parameter may be variadic with name ...T. In the body, concrete variadic parameters behave like a slice of T.
At the call site, arguments can be passed one by one or with a final spread argument using ....
fn sum(values ...i32) i32 {
var total = 0
for value in values {
total += value
}
return total
}
fn main() {
sum(1, 2, 3)
}
A parameter marked const requires a const-evaluable argument at the call site. This lets library code validate values while typechecking the caller.
Const evaluation also powers constant numeric values, sizeof, compile-time function calls and type-value computations.
fn repeat(const n const_int, value i32) [i32 n] {
var result [i32 n]
return result
}
anytype is valid in function parameter positions and captures the static type of the corresponding argument. Each non-variadic anytype parameter binds independently.
...anytype forms a heterogeneous compile-time pack. Pack length is available with len(args), and const indexes preserve the selected element type.
fn debug(value anytype) {
print(type_name(typeof(value)))
}
fn count(args ...anytype) int {
return len(args)
}
const { ... } executes a statement block in compile-time evaluation context. If it cannot be evaluated at compile time, compilation fails.
The compiler package provides diagnostic functions for code that validates itself during const evaluation.
import "compiler"
fn require_positive(const n const_int) {
const {
if n <= 0 {
compiler.error("expected positive value")
}
}
}
Anonymous structs and unions can be written directly as types. Anonymous struct identity is structural, based on field names and field types.
This is useful for local shapes and context-like values that do not need a named declaration.
fn distance(p struct { x f64; y f64 }) f64 {
return p.x*p.x + p.y*p.y
}
fn main() {
distance({ x: 3.0, y: 4.0 })
}
A struct may embed one named base struct as its first field. Direct fields win lookup, then promoted fields are searched through the embedded chain.
Embedded bases support implicit upcasts by value, pointer and reference forms.
struct Entity {
id u64
}
struct User {
Entity
name str
}
fn entity_id(e &Entity) u64 {
return e.id
}
Variable-size structs use dependent fields whose length comes from a previous integer field. Once the first dependent field appears, following fields must also be dependent.
VSS values cannot be used by value in locals, parameters or returns. They are intended for pointer/reference layout work.
struct Packet {
len u32
data [u8 .len]
}
fn packet_len(p &Packet) u32 {
return p.len
}
context is an ambient builtin expression inside function bodies. The builtin Context provides at least allocator, temp_allocator and logger.
Operations such as new, del, concat, fmt and print use context capabilities when no explicit resource is supplied.
fn main() {
var alloc = context.allocator
var msg = concat("hi, ", "there")
print(msg)
del msg in alloc
}
import "platform" loads the builtin platform package. The platform surface is intentionally small and target dependent.
The common platform import exposes process/platform operations such as exit(status i32).
import "platform"
fn main() {
platform.exit(0)
}
for ... in works over built-in sequence-like values and can also use the iterator protocol. A custom source provides __iterator(x) and matching next_* functions for the binding mode used by the loop.
This keeps the loop syntax simple while letting libraries define their own iteration shapes.
fn walk(xs &[i32]) i32 {
var total = 0
for value in xs {
total += value
}
return total
}
Directives attach to the following top-level declaration. Current foreign-linkage directives include @c_import, @wasm_import and @export.
Imported declarations have no HopHop body because the symbol is supplied externally. @export publishes a public HopHop function under a requested external name.
@wasm_import("env", "now")
fn now() f64
@export("run")
pub fn run() {
now()
}
Filename build tags let packages include files for specific targets. Active tags come from the selected backend and platform.
This keeps platform-specific code close to the package that needs it without adding conditional syntax inside the language.
logger_wasm.hop
logger_macos.hop
logger_linux.hop