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140 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
140 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
# C3 Language
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C3 is a C-like language striving to be an evolution of C, rather than a
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completely new language. As an alternative in the C/C++ niche it
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aims to be fast and close to the metal.
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The manual for C3 can be found at [www.c3-lang.org](http://www.c3-lang.org).
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Thanks to full ABI compatibility with C, it's possible to mix C and C3 in the same project with no effort. As a demonstration, vkQuake was compiled with a small portion of the code converted to C3 and compiled with the c3c compiler. (The fork can be found at https://github.com/c3lang/vkQuake)
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### Design Principles
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- Procedural "get things done"-type of language.
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- Try to stay close to C - only change what's really necessary.
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- C ABI compatibility and excellent C integration.
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- Learning C3 should be easy for a C programmer.
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- Data is inert.
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- Avoid "big ideas" & the "more is better" fallacy.
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- Introduce some higher level conveniences where the value is great.
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C3 owes its inspiration to the [C2 language](http://c2lang.org): to iterate on top of C without trying to be a
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whole new language.
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### Example code
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The following code shows some of the syntactic changes from C.
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Create a `main.c3` file with:
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```c++
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module hello_world;
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import std::io;
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fn void main()
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{
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io::println("Hello, world!");
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}
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```
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Make sure you have the standard libraries at either `../lib/std/` or `/lib/std/`.
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Then run
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```sh
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c3c compile main.c3
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```
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The generated binary will be called `a.out`.
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### In what ways do C3 differ from C?
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- No mandatory header files
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- New semantic macro system
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- Module based name spacing
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- Subarrays (slices)
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- Compile time reflection
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- Enhanced compile time execution
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- Generics based on generic modules
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- "Result"-based zero overhead error handling
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- Defer
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- Value methods
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- Associated enum data
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- No preprocessor
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- Less undefined behaviour and runtime checks in "safe" mode
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- Limited operator overloading to enable userland dynamic arrays
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- Optional pre and post conditions
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### Current status
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It's possible to try out the current C3 compiler in the browser: https://ide.judge0.com/ – this is courtesy of the
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developer of Judge0.
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Design work on C3 is mostly done, but there are some areas that are unfinished, such
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as inline asm. Follow the issues [here](https://github.com/c3lang/c3c/issues).
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If you have any suggestions on how to improve the language, either [file an issue](https://github.com/c3lang/c3c/issues)
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or discuss C3 on its dedicated Discord: [https://discord.gg/qN76R87](https://discord.gg/qN76R87).
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The compiler should compile on Linux, Windows (under MSVC, Mingw or MSYS2) and MacOS,
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but needs some install documentation for Windows.
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#### What can you help with?
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- If you wish to contribute with ideas, please file issues or discuss on Discord.
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- Interested in contributing to the stdlib? Please get in touch on Discord.
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- Are you a Windows dev and know your way around Github CI? Please help us get MSVC CI working!
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- Install instructions for other Linux and Unix variants are appreciated.
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- Would you like to contribute bindings to some library? It would be nice to have support for SDL, Raylib and more.
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- Build something with C3 and show it off and give feedback. The language is still open for significant tweaks.
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- Start work on the C -> C3 converter which takes C code and does a "best effort" to translate it to C3. The first version only needs to work on C headers.
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- Do you have some specific area you have deep knowledge of and could help make C3 even better at doing? File or comment on issues.
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### Installing
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#### Installing on Ubuntu 20.10
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1. Make sure you have a C compiler that handles C11 and a C++ compiler, such as GCC or Clang. Git also needs to be installed.
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2. Install CMake: `sudo apt install cmake`
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3. Install LLVM 11: `sudo apt-get install clang-11 zlib1g zlib1g-dev libllvm11 llvm-11 llvm-11-dev llvm-11-runtime liblld-11-dev liblld-11`
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4. Clone the C3C github repository: `git clone https://github.com/c3lang/c3c.git`
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5. Enter the C3C directory `cd c3c`.
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6. Create a build directory `mkdir build`
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7. Change directory to the build directory `cd build`
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8. Set up CMake build for debug: `cmake -DLLVM_DIR=/usr/lib/llvm-11/cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ..`
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9. Build: `cmake --build .`
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You should now have a `c3c` executable.
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You can try it out by running some sample code: `./c3c compile ../resources/examples/hash.c3`
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#### Building via Docker
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You can build `c3c` using either an Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04 container:
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```
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./build-with-docker.sh 18
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```
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Replace `18` with `20` to build through Ubuntu 20.04.
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For a release build specify:
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```
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./build-with-docker.sh 20 Release
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```
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A `c3c` executable will be found under `bin/`.
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#### Installing on OS X using Homebrew
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2. Install CMake: `brew install cmake`
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3. Install LLVM 13: `brew install llvm`
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4. Clone the C3C github repository: `git clone https://github.com/c3lang/c3c.git`
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5. Enter the C3C directory `cd c3c`.
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6. Create a build directory `mkdir build`
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7. Change directory to the build directory `cd build`
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8. Set up CMake build for debug: `cmake ..`
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9. Build: `cmake --build .`
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