Arc is an innovative programming language project meticulously crafted with C, designed for simplicity and reliability. Its primary focus is on establishing a streamlined frontend pipeline paired with an intuitive interpreter capable of evaluating expressions and facilitating basic variable assignments.

Key Features

Arc provides a robust set of features tailored for both novice and experienced programmers:

• Variables and Assignment: Easily declare and update variables using the VAR keyword.
• Functions: Implement custom functions complete with parameters and return values through the FN and RETURN keywords.
• Native Functions: Access built-in functions executed in C, enabling essential functionalities like input/output operations, type checking, and error management.
• Control Flow:
  • Utilize Conditional Statements such as IF, THEN, ELIF, and ELSE for logic branching.
  • Employ WHILE loops for the repetition of code segments, along with control flow statements like BREAK and CONTINUE for granular loop control.
• Operators: Comprehensive support for a range of arithmetic (+, -, *, /, ^), comparison (==, !=, <, >, <=, >=), and logical (AND, OR) operations.
• Data Types: Manage various data types including numbers, strings, and booleans.
• Error Handling: Benefit from sophisticated error reporting, complete with position tracking to facilitate debugging.
• Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL): Engage in an interactive environment for immediate execution of Arc code.

Example Usage

Consider the following example demonstrating file execution in Arc. Create a file named script.arc:

VAR x = 0

WHILE x < 5 THEN
    VAR x = x + 1
END

IF x == 5 THEN
    print("Five")
ELSE
    print("Not Five")
END

Executing this file with ./arc script.arc will produce:

Five

Roadmap

Future enhancements to Arc aim to include:

• Implementation of a logical NOT operator
• Introduction of scoped environments
• Development of a bytecode virtual machine as a long-term goal

For extensive documentation including getting started guides, language reference, and architecture details, refer to the contents in the docs/ folder.