Bob Nystrom
e95b32188f
The previous implementation used `sizeof(text) - 1` to determine string length at compile time, which required the argument to be a bare string literal. The new approach uses `strlen(text)` instead, which allows most compilers to evaluate the string length at compile time when a string literal is passed, while also supporting non-literal string arguments. This change trades compile-time guarantee for broader compatibility and compiler optimization potential.
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())
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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.
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Wren is fast. A fast single-pass compiler to tight bytecode, and a compact object representation help Wren compete with other dynamic languages.
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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.
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Wren is concurrent. Lightweight fibers are core to the execution model and let you organize your program into an army of communicating coroutines.
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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.
