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Boi lang

For a comprehensive example with comments, check out demo.boi

Here's a very simple example of some code written using the Boi interpreted language:

boi, "Hello, Boi!" boi

boi! set greet "Hello," boi
boi! set subject "Boi!" boi
boi, boi:greet " " boi:subject boi

What is Boi-lang?

This is an experimental language developed as a joke.

Boi-lang takes things way outside the box. It features dynamic scoping and only one variable type (byte array), which Boi-lang lets you pass around however you please.

My inspiration for this work of "art" can be attributed to a Facebook group with the following title:

we post the word "boi" every day until the James Webb telescope is launched

Every line contains the word "boi".

Why?

Developing a silly programming language is fun, and makes it possible to explore new ideas without worrying about quality and consistency.

How?

Every statement begins with a keyword (ex: boi!) and ends with the statement terminator, which is boi.

There are different keywords which will explained further:

keyword Description
boi! Call a function
boi? Call a function, and execute succeeding statements if it returns true
boi, Shorthand to call say function
boi: Shorthand to call set function

Using Functions

Every function call begins with the boi! keyword, followed by a list of tokens where the first token is the function name. Note that since variables are tokens, the function name can be taken from a variable.

say function

The say function outputs its input arguments to standard out Example:

boi! say "Hello, Boi!" boi

Output:

Hello, Boi!

set function

The set function takes two parameters - a variable name and value Example:

boi! set subject "Boi!" boi
boi! say "Hello, " boi:subject boi

Output

Hello, Boi!

nyan function

The nyan function takes any number of parameters, strings them together and returns the output so it's available in the ret:exit variable.

Conditionals

Conditionals distinguish computers from calculators. A language without conditionals is, well, a calculator.

Conditionals aren't very useful in Boi-lang yet, but here's an example anyway:

boi? nyan true boi
    boi! say "the nyan function returned true" boi
BOI

Note that block statements end with BOI.

Also note that "true" is a string. See the "truth semantics" section below for more information.

Truth Semantics

Every variable in Boi-lang is an array of bytes. This makes the truth semantics very simple:

Situation Memory (hex) Result
Variable doesn't exist N/A false
ASCII string 'false' 66 61 6c 73 65 false
Literal binary value 0 00 false
Anything else any of not the above true

Terms & Syntax

Term Description
Identifier A valid Boi-lang identifier is any valid string.
String A string can be "in double-quotes with \"escaped quotes\"", or outside\ quotes\ with\ escaped\ spaces.
Token A token in Boi-lang refers to an input value, which is a string or variable.