W Language

W is a custom interpreted programming language. It is designed to be a simple language for various applications.

Main features

• Hand-written Lexer and Parser: A custom-built lexer and a recursive descent parser provide full control over the language syntax.
• Tree-walk Interpreter: The Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) is traversed by a tree-walk interpreter to execute the code.
• Advanced Error Handling: A robust, dual-system approach to error management. User-facing errors (e.g., syntax mistakes) are collected by the lexer and parser into LexerCrash and ParserCrash objects, allowing the system to report multiple issues in a single pass.

Documentation

For more detailed information about the language, its architecture, and how to use it, please refer to the most important documentation:

• Getting Started
• Language Guide
• Architecture Overview

Here is the rest of the documentation:

• Error Handling
• Keywords
• Native Types
• Type System
• Creating Structures
• Creating Modules
• Logging
• Interpreter
• Parser
• Lexer

Supported Platforms

W-lang is officially supported and continuously tested on the following platforms:

• macOS (latest) with Apple Clang
• Linux (Ubuntu latest) with GCC-14

Installation

Option 1: Using Pre-built Binaries (Release)

You can download a pre-built binary for your operating system directly from the GitHub Releases page.

1. Download the .tar.gz file for your platform (macOS or Linux).
2. Extract the archive:

   tar -xzf w-lang-*.tar.gz

3. (Optional) Move the binary to a directory included in your $PATH (e.g., ~/.local/bin) so you can run it from anywhere:

   mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
   mv wlang ~/.local/bin/

Option 2: Building from source

To build and install the W-lang interpreter from source, you'll need a C++23 compatible compiler. An easy, interactive installation script is provided.

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ralphy127/W-lang
   cd W-lang

2. Run the install script:

   ./install.sh

The script will automatically build the project using CMake, install the wlang executable to $HOME/.local/bin, and optionally add the directory to your PATH for easy execution.

Usage

Once you have installed the project (and $HOME/.local/bin is in your PATH), you can execute a script anywhere:

wlang path/to/your/script.weird

If you chose not to add it to your PATH, you can use the absolute path:

~/.local/bin/wlang path/to/your/script.weird

Running Tests

The project uses CTest and GoogleTest for unit and integration testing. To run the test suite, navigate to the build directory and run ctest:

cd build
ctest

CI/CD

W-lang uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration and deployment:

• Automated Testing (ci.yaml): Every push to main and active development branches triggers a build and test run across all supported platforms to ensure stability.
• Automated Releases (release.yml): Pushing a new version tag (e.g., v*) automatically compiles the project in Release mode without any caching overhead and attaches the properly packaged binaries to a new GitHub Release.