Quill

Quill is an innovative programming language designed with clarity and expressiveness at its core. This cutting-edge language ensures that the intent behind code is explicitly conveyed, failures are transparently communicated, and correctness is inherently integrated into the code structure. Quill is particularly suited for applications in backend engineering, financial systems, automation, reliable business processes, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Key Features

Human-Readable Syntax

Quill’s syntax is intentionally designed to be easy to read, using natural language keywords like when, found, missing, fails, and check. This allows beginners to grasp coding logic quickly while maintaining precision for more advanced users.

Precision with Money

Quill ensures accuracy in financial calculations. For instance, currency operations maintain fidelity—100 USD + 50 USD results in 150 USD, while attempting to mix currencies triggers an error. Quill allows for precise monetary operations, including conversions and calculations that reflect typical banking methods.

Data Handling

Quill excels in managing data with commands to aggregate, filter, and manipulate records easily. For example:

sum fee of roster
get place of desk.bookings
students where score >= 50

These commands facilitate straightforward data extraction and computation, ensuring transparency in data usage.

Error Handling and Clarity

Errors are actively addressed in Quill. The language features a maybe construct to indicate potential absence of data, thus requiring programmers to handle all conditions effectively. Error messages are designed to be illuminating, providing insights into what went wrong, why it occurred, and how to rectify the issue.

Function Contracts

Functions in Quill clearly specify their requirements and guarantees through require and ensure statements. This strong typing and contract enforcement minimizes runtime surprises, enhancing program reliability. Here's a brief example:

fn withdraw(balance: USD, amount: USD) -> USD
  require amount > 0 USD
  ensure result >= 0 USD
  fails InsufficientFunds
  when
    amount > balance -> fail InsufficientFunds
  return balance - amount

Learn as You Go

The language includes tools for testing and documentation that seamlessly integrate examples as executable tests within comments, ensuring that the documentation remains accurate and up-to-date with the codebase.

Current State

As of now, Quill is in a pre-alpha stage of development, with foundational features operational. The design and functionalities are still evolving, and contributions from developers interested in shaping the language are welcomed.

Future Aspirations

Quill aims to further expand its capabilities, enhancing safety aspects, building a robust ecosystem, and incorporating advanced features such as concurrency and static contract verification.

Get Started

Developers interested in trying Quill can explore the Quill Programming Language book for comprehensive learning resources, which cater to both new and experienced programmers. Sample projects and templates are readily available to facilitate an easy start with Quill's powerful features.