khasm-lang / khasmc

A functional programming language that aims to be simple, but expressive.

Khasmc

The compiler for the khasm programming language.

NOTE:

Khasm and khasmc are still in pre-β development. The below partially writes like it is a currently working language - it is not. Consider the below, for the moment, a wishlist for what this language will hopefully eventually look like.

What is khasm?

Khasm is an experimental programming language based on the System-F type system, with the goal of being rather polymorphic, and rather fast.

The System-F type system

The System-F type system is a higher level type system that allows the expression of functions like this:

let apply_to_tuple f a b = (f a, f b)
where
typeof(a) <> typeof(b)

Here, the type of apply_to_tuple would be ∀a b, (∀c, c -> c) -> a -> b -> (a, b), which cannot be expressed in the default type systems of OCaml or Haskell, due to the nested forall. However, the tradeoff is that you cannot have proper type inference.

An example program:

Here's a hello world program in khasm:

open Stdlib
let main () : () -> () =
    print_str "Hello, World!"

Khasm, unlike OCaml, does not have toplevel execution, so the main function is the entry point. It must always have type () -> ().

Goals:

• Builtin proofing of typeclasses to allow for a seamlessly correct experience
• A large standard library, to allow for easy usage
• Linear types for resources
• Uniqueness types for concurrent/multithreaded programming
• The full power of the ML module and System-F type systems

TODOs

For a comprehensive list, see TODO.md.

Notes:

• Khasm isn't even in β yet - it's probably closer to being in γ or something :P. Please do not use Khasm for any major project or programs.