Bob Nystrom
a02e359a40
Replace the char* based string buffer with a proper String struct that stores both the buffer pointer and length, eliminating strlen() calls in symbol table lookups. Update all symbol table consumers in debug printing, VM method resolution, and GC marking to access the .buffer field. Refactor Value union to use anonymous struct for num/obj fields, and change Obj flags to a bool marked field. Adjust ALLOCATE_FLEX macro to accept separate main type and array type parameters. Add regression test for map subscript on empty map returning null.
Wren is a small, fast, class-based concurrent scripting language
Think Smalltalk in a Lua-sized package with a dash of Erlang and wrapped up in a familiar, modern syntax.
IO.print("Hello, world!")
class Wren {
flyTo(city) {
IO.print("Flying to ", city)
}
}
var adjectives = new Fiber {
["small", "clean", "fast"].map {|word| Fiber.yield(word) }
}
while (!adjectives.isDone) IO.print(adjectives.call)
-
Wren is small. The codebase is about 5,000 lines. You can skim the whole thing in an afternoon. It's small, but not dense. It is readable and lovingly-commented.
-
Wren is fast. A fast single-pass compiler to tight bytecode, and a compact object representation help Wren compete with other dynamic languages.
-
Wren is class-based. There are lots of scripting languages out there, but many have unusual or non-existent object models. Wren places classes front and center.
-
Wren is concurrent. Lightweight fibers are core to the execution model and let you organize your program into an army of communicating coroutines.
-
Wren is a scripting language. Wren is intended for embedding in applications. It has no dependencies, a small standard library, and an easy-to-use C API. It compiles cleanly as C99, C++98 or anything later.
If you like the sound of this, give it a try! Even better, you can contribute to Wren itself.
