99 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
99 lines
5.6 KiB
Markdown
# Clyx programming language
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## About
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Clyx (pronouned like _clicks_) is a concatenative, stack-oriented, interpreted programming language designed for simplicity, minimalism, and metaprogramming capabilities.
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Clyx aims for maximum portability and can be implemented in any modern runtime environment that supports data structures defined in JSON (numbers, strings, lists and key-value dictionaries). Extra features varying in portability include filesystem support and TCP socket I/O.
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The core spec of Clyx is mostly stable but the standard library is still a work-in-progress.
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## Language features
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- Single, unbounded data stack that can hold numbers, strings and quotations (lists)
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- Forth-like parsing, RPN (postfix notation) and word definition mechanics
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- Tcl-like quotation (list) bracket syntax
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- Janet-like quotation (list) operations
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- Homoiconicity: quotations and strings can be manipulated as data and executed dynamically
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- Character I/O (implementation-dependent)
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- File I/O (may not support all features on some targets)
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- TCP socket I/O (may not be supported on some targets)
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- Platform-agnostic [standard library](lib.clx)
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- Ability to include custom modules into the current runtime context (depends on file I/O capabilities)
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## Installation
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Depending on the implementation, there are several installation ways.
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### Reference Python (CPython) implementation installation
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For the easiest way to install the reference Python-based Clyx implementation, [pipx](https://pipx.pypa.io/stable/) is recommended:
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```sh
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pipx install "git+https://codeberg.org/luxferre/clyx.git#subdirectory=clyx-python"
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```
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This will install the REPL as `clyx` into your current environment.
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### Reference implementation for MicroPython
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Clone this repo, then run `sh dist-python.sh`. A `dist/clyx_py/clyx` directory will appear, which will contain all the files necessary to run `micropython clyx.py [prog.clx]` on the desktop or copy them to the target device.
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### Reference implementation for CircuitPython + [T-DeckARD](https://codeberg.org/luxferre/t-deckard) runtime
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Clone this repo, then mount your T-Deck's CircuitPython volume, and then run:
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```sh
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sh dist-python.sh /path/to/mounted/volume/app/clyx
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```
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This will install Clyx as a T-DeckARD applet.
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## Usage
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Note: this section describes how to run the interpreter itself. For the language manual, refer to [Clyx Reference Manual](clyx_manual.md).
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All core implementations must accept a `.clx` file to run (either via command line or via library call parameter). The REPL is implemented in Clyx itself and resides in the [clyx_repl.clx](clyx_repl.clx) file.
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### Running the reference Python implementation
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If Clyx is installed as a PyPi package, just use `clyx [prog.clx]` to run the REPL or a program.
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Otherwise, to run the REPL, run `[micro]python clyx.py` command from the directory created by `./dist-python.sh`. Pass a `.clx` file additionally to run a Clyx program directly.
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### Running as a T-DeckARD applet
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To run the REPL inside T-DeckARD:
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```
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from app.clyx import clyx
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clyx.repl()
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```
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To run a Clyx source file directly, issue `clyx.clyx('path/to/file.clx')` instead.
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Caveats:
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1. The entire operation is rather slow (which is expected for an interpreted runtime on top of CircuitPython on this class of machines) and may sometimes overflow the allocated (native) Python stack. As such, it's not recommended to `src` files from the REPL if you can run them directly instead.
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2. Don't forget to mount an SD card or run `unlock_rootfs()` if you want to use file writing capabilities inside T-DeckARD environment.
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## Implementations
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- [Reference implementation in Python](clyx-python/clyx/clyx.py) (compatible with MicroPython and T-DeckARD on CircuitPython)
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## FAQ
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### Where does the name Clyx originate from?
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Similarly to [LVTL](https://codeberg.org/luxferre/lvtl-x) and [LTTB](https://codeberg.org/luxferre/lttb), the prototype of Clyx had been called LPLF (Luxferre's Pointer-Less Forth). However, as the finalized language began to differ from the Forth standard in too many ways, a decision was made to focus on the concatenative nature itself. Thus, the word ConCat had been chosen, which was quickly modded into ConLynx and then naturally shortened to Clyx.
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Additionally, this name can be viewed as an acronym hinting at the order some binary operations pop their operands from the stack: "Compute by Loading Y, then X".
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### Why not just pick up a Forth instead?
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Forth is good if you are fine with only being able to push integers onto the stack and building all your abstractions using direct memory access. Clyx, on the other hand, does not have direct memory access because it was designed for the systems that might not even give you one, but you can do so much more with the data types that it allows you to push onto the stack without involving any trickery.
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Clyx combines the conceptual simplicity of Forth (and concatenative/RPN programming in general) with list definition syntax, list manipulation and metaprogramming capabilities of Janet and Tcl, making it much more practical for everyday tasks. At the same time, you can build abstraction levels as high as you need to, making it a nice choice for creating custom DSLs (domain-specific languages), especially with the `next` word that pushes the next logical token onto the stack, allowing to change token processing order.
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While diverging from some "purity" aspects, Clyx is a decent choice for newcomers that want to try out a totally new programming paradigm without investing too much time into fighting the language's quirks.
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## Credits
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Created by Luxferre in 2026, released into the public domain with no warranties.
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